Established | 1936 |
---|---|
Location | 1808 Alumni Dr. Stephen F. Austin State University Nacogdoches, Texas |
Coordinates | 31°37′16″N94°39′09″W / 31.621010°N 94.652546°W |
Website | The Old Stone Fort at SFASU |
Official name | Old Stone Fort |
Designated | 1962 |
Reference no. | 9393 |
The Old Stone Fort Museum is located on the campus of Stephen F. Austin State University, in the city and county of Nacogdoches, Texas. It is a 1936 replica, at a different location, of a structure that had been erected circa 1779 by Nacogdoches militia commander Antonio Gil Y'Barbo. The original building was never a fort, in spite of its sobriquet. After more than a century serving various purposes, the original structure was demolished. The replica was erected with help from the local Cum Concilio civic organization, and funding from the New Deal economic program of the Franklin D. Roosevelt administration. The museum is open to visitors and provides historic exhibits on the grounds of the university.
The original Old Stone Fort was built of native iron ore, circa 1779, as a mercantile house by Antonio Gil Y'Barbo. Because of its iron-brick construction, it was referred to as the Stone House. In 1805, he sold the structure to José Luis de la Bega, and in 1806, Bega sold it to William Barr. Along with fellow merchants Peter Samuel Davenport, Luther Smith, and Edward Murphy, Barr operated the House of Barr and Davenport, an import-export business catering to the indigenous tribes of the area. [1] Davenport established his headquarters as the Nacogdoches agent for the firm in the Old Stone Fort. [2] Davenport outlived his partners—Smith died in 1807, Murphy in 1808, and Barr in 1810—leaving Davenport as the sole proprietor. [3] During the next several years, the structure also served as various government facilities. [4]
In a prelude to the Fredonian Rebellion, Benjamin Haden, brother to Empresario Haden Edwards, led several followers in seizing the building on December 16, 1826. Shortly thereafter, Col. José de las Piedras used the structure as his headquarters. [5]
In 1829, John Marie Durst purchased the Stone House from Juan Benigno Davenport, Peter Samuel Davenport's son and heir. Durst and his family lived there until 1834 when he sold it to Vicente Córdova. [6] In 1837, the Republic of Texas used the structure as a courtroom under Judge Robert McAlpin Williamson, who also was known as Three-legged Willie. [7]
In 1838, Córdova sold the structure to John S. Roberts, one of the signers of the Texas Declaration of Independence. Roberts, a former sheriff of Natchitoches, had participated in the battle of Nacogdoches in 1832 and the Siege of Béxar in 1835. [8] He operated a variety of commercial ventures in the structure before selling it to William and Charles Perkins. [9] They became the last owners of the original building.
The Perkins family dismantled the building in 1902, but some of its original stones were preserved by Cum Concilio, a civic organization in Nacogdoches. In 1907, the club used the stones for a small building in Washington Square.
Decades later, the New Deal economic program of the Franklin D. Roosevelt administration provided funding for the construction of a replica of the old fort on the grounds of Stephen F. Austin State College. Dedication ceremonies were held October 16, 1936.
The Building became a museum, which is open to visitors and hosts historic exhibits. [10] [11]
Nacogdoches County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, its population was 64,653. Its county seat is Nacogdoches.
Edwards County is a county located on the Edwards Plateau in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census its population was 1,422. The county seat is Rocksprings. The county was created in 1858 and organized in 1883. It is named for Haden Edwards, an early settler of Nacogdoches, Texas. The Edwards Aquifer and Edwards Plateau are named after the county by reason of their locations.
Nacogdoches is a city in East Texas and the county seat of Nacogdoches County, Texas, United States. The 2020 U.S. census recorded the city's population at 32,147. Stephen F. Austin State University is located in Nacogdoches and specializes in forestry and agriculture.
Stephen F. Austin State University (SFA) is a public university in Nacogdoches, Texas. It was founded as a teachers' college in 1923 and subsequently renamed after one of Texas's founding fathers, Stephen F. Austin. Its campus resides on part of the homestead of Thomas Jefferson Rusk. On May 11, 2023, the university joined the University of Texas System; it was previously one of two public universities in the state not affiliated with one of Texas's seven university systems.
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Reconstruction in architectural conservation is the returning of a place to a known earlier state by the introduction of new materials. It is related to the architectural concepts of restoration and preservation, wherein the most extensive form of reconstruction is creating a replica of a destroyed building.
The dogtrot, also known as a breezeway house, dog-run, or possum-trot, is a style of house that was common throughout the Southeastern United States during the 19th and early 20th centuries. Some theories place its origins in the southern Appalachian Mountains. Some scholars believe the style developed in the post-Revolution frontiers of Kentucky and Tennessee. Others note its presence in the South Carolina Lowcountry from an early period. The main style point was a large breezeway through the center of the house to cool occupants in the hot southern climate.
Texas Gulf Coast is an intertidal zone which borders the coastal region of South Texas, Southeast Texas, and the Texas Coastal Bend. The Texas coastal geography boundaries the Gulf of Mexico encompassing a geographical distance relative bearing at 367 miles (591 km) of coastline according to CRS and 3,359 miles (5,406 km) of shoreline according to NOAA.
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Media related to Old Stone Fort (Texas) at Wikimedia Commons