For Preservation Newsletter
0/ the Greater Houston Preservation Alliance December 1993
Volume 9, Number 4
"Approval by the Board of Review is tantamount to acceptance on the National Register by the National Parks Service " said Lisa Hart of the Texas Historical Commission . "After we approve and forward the nomination , the Parks Service has 45 days to a.c cept it or reject it, and it is unheard of for them to reject it. "
Wesbnoreland Wins State Approval as National Register Historic District by David Beale
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On Saturday, September 18 , 1993 , Westmoreland residents cheered when the Board of Review of the Texas Historical Commission officially recognized the significance of their neighborhood by approving Westmoreland's nomination as Houston's eighth district to be listed in the National Register of Historic Places. The new district lies roughly between Courtlandt Place on the north and Marshall Street on the south , and between Spur 527 of the Southwest Freeway and Garrott Street. Residents have been pursuing the goal of National Register designation for several years . Efforts intensified in 1991, when the plan was officially endorsed by Westmoreland Civic Association. The historic survey and much of the work involved in preparing the National Register application was funded by a grant from the George and Mary Josephine Hamman Foundation to the Greater Houston Preservation Alliance. Westmoreland Addition was platted by the South End Land Company in 1902, on bare prairie at the southeast edge of Houston's city limits , where Smith , Louisiana and Milam streets ended . Planned as a "private place ", a refuge from the noise, sights and odors of Houston, this neighborhood type was especially associated with the private streets of St. Louis. In Houston, Westmoreland was the first subdivision in Houston with systematic deed restrictions, providing a model for Houston's future
planned community developments . The eight square blocks of Westmoreland Addition developed as planned , in a wide variety of late Victorian and early twentieth century house styles. Since 1902 , the neighborhood has withstood the erosive effects of changing tastes in house styles , population flight to the suburbs, construction of intrusive apartment complexes , absence of zoning, construction of the Southwest Freeway and Houston's public-sector indifference to the preservation of its history. Despite these obstacles, Westmoreland Addition survives today with its historical integrity essentially intact.
David Krentz , preSident of Westmoreland Civic Association , said that upon learning of the Board of Review's action , his reaction was one of jubilation. "It has been two years of hard work for the Beales [W.C.A. Historian and Historical Committee Chairperson Sharie Beale and her husband David] . It has brought the neighborhood together for a common goal. A lot of people have contributed. We have quite a punch for such a small neighborhood ," added Krentz , who also noted the support from Houston City Councilman Al Calloway's office, especially in the last, crucial weeks . The idea of a Westmoreland Historic District was conceived in the mid-1980s by Ron and Carolyn Crockett during the research for the historic nomination for their 1905 Colonial Revival Nash House at 215 Westmoreland Avenue. Ron Crockett's hundreds of hours of research of Westmoreland homeowners, architects and builders forms the basis of the Westmoreland nomination. Approximately 35 Westmorelanders participated in various phases of the nomination process . After the Board of Review's vote , Crockett stated, "We can use the nomination as a Continued on Page 5
Top Left: The Queen Anne cottage at 116 Hawthorne was built by English-born architect Henry Collier Cooke. Above: Hawthorne was built in 1905 for Houston portrait painter George Westfall and his wife Emma, at a cost of $2 ,500 . ]0]
THE NATIONAL REGISTER O/HISTORIC PLACES AND THE TEXAS STATE BOARD OF REVIEW by Stephen Fox The National Register of Historic Places is a comprehensive catalogue of our nation's cultural resources. It is our country's official honor roll of districts , sites , buildings , structures , and objects significant in American history , architecture , and archeology . Properties of state and local as well as national significance are listed. The Board of Review of the Texas Historical Commission consists of 15 individuals from around the state who are charged with approving all nominations to the National Register of Historic Places of properties in Texas. Each state in the United States is required by the National Historic Preservation Act to maintain a board of review for this purpose. The members of the state's his toric preserva tion agency , the Texas Historical Commission (appointees of the governor), appoint in turn eleven members to the State Board of Review , usually on the recommendation of the staff of the National Register Programs of the Texas Historical Commission. Terms of appointment are two years. Members may be reappointed for three successive terms before rotating off the Board. In addition to the appointed members, there are two honorary members--the State Archeologist and the director of the State Marker Program (both employees of the THC)-and two ex-officio members, Texas's Advisors to the National Trust for Historic Preservation . The National Historic Preservation Ac t requires that the fields of history , archeology (historic and prehistoric), architectural history, and architecture be represented on the State Board of Review. The Texas Historical Commission, through its appOintments, also seeks to ensure representation on the basis of geography , race , ethnicity , and gender.
The chief responsibility of the State Board of Review is to ensure that all nominations con form to the criteria for listing in the National Register established by the National Park Service. Professional expertise is essential to the Board's discharge of this duty . The Board is expected to function independently of the staff of the National Register department and other THC departments. Therefore it reviews nominations critically and does not merely "rubberstamp" the applications brought before it. Should the State Board of Review approve the forwarding of inappropriate properties or insufficiently documented nomination applications to the National Park Service in Washington , D.C., the National Park Service will return the nomination to the state preservation agency. Through the efforts of Jim Steely , deputy state historic preservation officer and director of the Texas Historical Commission's National Register Programs , and his staff, including Lisa S. Hart, who is in charge of the Houston area, Texas's State Board of Review has achieved an exceptionally high level of expertise and critical acuity. This does lead on occasion to uncomfortable public questioning and criticism of nominations . But the procedure works very well to maintain-to use a favorite preservation term-the "integrity" of National Register submissions from Texas . Presently from Houston on the State Board of Review is the distinguished historian , Emilio Zamora , assistant professor of history at the University of Houston. Previous Houston appointees have included architect and former GHPA president Graham B. Luhn. Stephen Fox is a Fellow of the Anchorage Foundation of Texas and is a former member of the State Board of Review .