Heritage, Volume 5, Number 2, Summer 1987 Page: 13
49 p. : ill. ; 28 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Of equal import to Georgetown's economic,
cultural, and architectural development
was the decision by the Texas
conference of the Methodist Church to
consolidate their schools across the state
into one central location. Recognizing
the benefits that this reorganized university
could bring to the community,
Georgetown leaders successfully lobbied
for Texas University, later renamed
Southwestern University, to open there in
1873. The city thereby emerged as an
early education center of Texas, adding to
its population not only families seeking
quality instruction for their children but
also an impressive group of educators for
the faculty.
After 1900 Georgetown continued to
prosper, although less dramatically than
during its robust Victorian heyday. Promotional
publications of that day boasted
that the city's desirable attributes noted
"nine churches, with a membership of
2,500. .. no saloons, no gambling dens,
or any other attendant evils."
An imposing Neoclassical-style courthouse
dominated the downtown square
by 1910. Roads were later paved to accommodate
the increasing number of automobiles.
Telephone service, indoor
plumbing, electricity, gas heat, and other
amenities became available. Orderly rows
of comfortable and spacious bungalows
dotted the streetscapes in "newer"
neighborhoods.
The Great Depression stifled the city's
growth for a time, with the population increasing
by less than 100 in the entire
decade of the thirties. After the Depression,
however, Georgetown enjoyed a period
of relative stability. The composition
of the neighborhoods and downtown
commercial district changed very little in
succeeding years, with most new construction
during the 1940s and 1950s
taking place in the fields south of the
university.
The preservation movement of the
1970s, therefore, found Old Georgetown
essentially intact. Long-time residents
soon had willing allies in their efforts to
preserve the local architectural and cultural
legacy, because the community's
charm and proximity to the state capital
quickly lured preservationists, new businesses,
commuter residents, and retirees
to settle there, as had other "migrants"
before them.R. F. Young House, 1901. Embellished with molded wreaths and festoons
on the entry bay gable, front door, and sidelights, this Queen
Anne style home also boasts fish-scale shingles and Ionic columns.
Originally built in a rural setting on the north campus of Southwestern
University, the house was moved to its present location in 1978.D. K. Wilcox House, 1913. Originally built by the Belford Lumber
Company, the house is reminiscent of the Four Square style popular all
over the U.S. in the early 1900s.13
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Texas Historical Foundation. Heritage, Volume 5, Number 2, Summer 1987, periodical, Summer 1987; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth45437/m1/13/: accessed April 23, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas Historical Foundation.