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William
M. Owen House - St Charles Hotel
Old Round Rock Store-Post Office and Complex
Historical Narratives By Crystal
Sassa Ragsdale
The two, stone
buildings complex in Old Round Rock, Williamson County
is composed of the old general mercantile store and the
first permanent post office, a one story structure and
the adjoining two story William Owen house. They have
been welcome landmarks for well over a century, from the
beginnings of this frontier settlement. The structures
are of the prevailing vernacular style of architecture
characteristic of mid 19th century Texas. They are
located on the once heavily-traveled, main road that
connected Austin, the state capital, to the north part
of the state. They were witnesses to the thousands of
longhorn cattle that forded nearby Brushy Creek from the
late 1860s through the mid 1880s as well as to the
hundreds of cowmen who traded in the town's general
merchandise stores.
Thomas
C. Oatts was the builder and owner of the store and
first postmaster of Round
Rock in 1851. [1] Re-built the
structure which served as the first permanent post
office. 1853 It is located on the high, north bank above
the creek. The area lies on the east side
of U. S. Interstate 35 at Texas Highway 79. [2] The
house was probably built more than a decade later.
Both buildings embody
elements of the particular vernacular style and
construction characteristic of Anglo-American
architecture of mid 19th century Texas. They are an
integral part of the old town's group of almost a dozen
remaining buildings in an area along the old Austin to
Georgetown highway, [3] the section through town was
recently designated Chisholm Trail Road. This group of
buildings clusters along the road for about a mile in a
half-mile-wide-strip. The area is now (1981) protected
by Round Rock Historic landmark ordinances, [4] is being
rapidly encircled by commercial development. The old
mesquite and live oak and brush covered environment is
being rapidly destroyed, paved and bulldozed and new
roads encircle the historic area.
From the time the
Military Road was laid out during the time of the
Republic in the 1840s, [5] "as straight as an arrow" [6]
from Austin north to Indian Territory the road in front
Of the complex has been used. In the 1850s the route
became known as the Austin to Georgetown Road. Beginning
in the late 1860s the stone ford at Brushy Creek just
below Round Rock became the well-known crossing for
herds going north to meet the Chisholm Trail in Indian
Territory (later Oklahoma). [7]
Round Rock was a
prosperous trading center during these years with
schools, churches and a variety of businesses [8] until
the International and Great Northern Railroad bypassed
it in 1874 and the new town of Round Rock was
established south of the old settlement. Although cattle
were still driven through the area the old town lost its
commercial importance. However, for many years the
highway continued to traverse the old town from Austin
to Dallas and North Texas.
Postmaster
Oatts and pioneer settler and landowner Jacob M. Harrell
are credited with naming the town Round Rock for the
large anvil-shaped rock in nearby Brushy Creek. [9] At
first Oatts had his store and post office near the
creek, but after a particularly devastating flood
destroyed his store and post office along with property
owned by others in the settlement [10] then called
Brushy. He
then moved to the north bank where he established his
new business in 1853 and the post office was renamed
Round Rock in 1854.
Oatts's property
assessment in 1855 was $3,589.00 [11] which might well
have included his merchandise store and a dog run.; one
story home and stage stop (now destroyed) at the rear of
his property. This building and the store and, post
office (the third in Williamson County) could possibly
have adjoined the customary fenced wagon yard hostelry
and livery stable that bay have been on the site of the
present house.
In 1851 there was a
twice weekly mail route running each way. Within only a
few years a mail delivery was increased to three times
weekly, delivered by a two horseback [12] The hack
driver took time at various places at a stage stop to
deliver mail and seek out an eating place as he traveled
from settlement to settlement, Travelers often needed a
night's lodging and to hire transportation at the stops.
Williamson County was
created in 1848, two years after the Republic of Texas
became a state. Round Rock was established in the early
1850s. However there was little rush for settlement of
this frontier outpost. A decade later on the eve of the
Civil War population for the entire country including
876 slaves was only 3,700.
Agriculture
was the main occupation, sheep and cattle raising with
wheat and corn as the important crops. It was customary
to exchange hides, wheat, flour and corn for dry goods
and groceries. Oatts became a prominent merchant during
the fifteen years he owned the store. His daughter
married into the cattle-owning, Snyder family and in the
1870s he went up the trail twice and kept a diary.
Written in highly phonetic: English describing his
adventures. [13]
Oatts remained
postmaster until 1860 but continued his business in the
store until 1867 when he sold his property for $1500 to
Henry Harris. [14] Three years late in 1870, Harris sold
it to prominent Williamson County physician and
businessman..., Dr. Mitchell Owen and his wife, Sarah
who had come to the area in 1847. [15]
The house in the
complex is mentioned as having been built by Harris,
however it has also been referred to as the "Old Owen
home." [16] Therefore who was the first owner- builder
of the two men remains uncertain. However, c. 1870 would
seem to indicate the time of the construction. Dr.
Oven's real estate evaluation, was given, as $2500 - in
the 1870 census which could include the cost of the
large stone house. [17]
The
complex has passed through a number of owners since
Owen's time. A grocery seems to
have been run in the store building until E
McLoud's widow Lela sold the store and house to the
James B. Rutlands in 1965 [18] The house has served as a
lodging place at various times through the years.
After 1900 the old
tom became run down, its fine, old stone buildings
neglected and allowed in some cases to fall into
irreversible decay and ruin. From the 1940s however
there has been a slow, often agonizing reclamation of
the various structures. In the next decade Colonel
William Ross Irvin began to purchase and restore a
number of the old buildings.
In 1965 his daughter Harriet and her
husband James B. Rutland continued Ervin work when they
bought the store and house complex: and restored the
neglected structures. George H. Murray, an
investor
interested in historic preservation purchased the
property early in 1981. He has leased the house to three
doctors for their offices and plans to lease the store
for some commercial enterprise.
History
narrative story written by
Crystal Sasse Ragsdale
2nd
part
Round Rock Store-Post Office and
Wm. M. Owen House Complex Description - -
The
two structure complex of store and post office and the
Wm. M. Owen house in old
Round
Rock, Texas is aligned with an east to west, north to
south orientation. The structures on a corner facing
east on the old main Austin to Georgetown highway
recently named Chisholm Trail Road, are bounded on the
north side by Emanuel Street. The store-post office is
located just off the north end of the front porch of the
house. The single room, rectangular, stone store
building is about 40' X 30'.
The
19' high load-bearing, masonry walls of local limestone
are about 18" thick on a stone foundation. The rubble
stone (incertum) walls were plastered on both interior
and exterior surfaces. Now the stone is exposed.
The
floor is made of large, smooth stones from nearby Brushy
Creek. The ceiling is open to reveal the roof, supported
by pine rafters with approximate 12" wide spacing. Two
of the building's durable three doors are in the rear on
the north and south facade. They are about three feet
wide and barely six feet high. One opens to the south to
the adjacent house. It is handmade as are the other two
and has the decorative line of the edging plane on the
two, vertical, chamfered pine panels. The north door,
opening on Emanuel Street is heavily studied with nails
on the exterior. The interior of these two doors is
reinforced by two 2 X 4s. A removable 2 X 4 lumber cross
bar is used across the center for protective closing on
the street-side door.
The strongly built double
front door is 63/41 wide and high and has reinforcing
diagonal timbers across each door on the interior in
addition to a 2 X 4 removable wooden cross bar. This
door is not original but is probably a reasonable
duplicate. At the present time interior, louvered
shutters are used at the two, small, double hung,
recessed six-over-six windows on
either side of the front door, replacing the original
exterior solid, protective shutters.
A stone chimney pierces the high
pitch wooden shingle roof at the rear (west) end of the
building where a small fireplace is located. Originally
a wooden porch extended across the east, front facade
supported by two sturdy, boxed , wooden columns. It was
probably removed by the A. E. Mclouds who operated the
grocery store there in the mid 1950s and who made a
number of changes in both store and house during their
ownership. Except
for the removal of the wooden
porch and the interior and exterior plaster by other
owners in the mid 1960s the building is in excellent
condition. A narrow, unobtrusive wooden
extension-lean-to was added to the rear (west) facade to
house air condition equipment and lavatory facilities.
The
second part of the complex is the two story house of
four main rooms and a kitchen. It is set back some 15'
from the front of the store and about 25' from the road,
facing east.
The
house is a rectangular block constructed of local
limestone, coursed rubble that has been well described
as "beautiful stonework." The structure is approximately
50' X 30' with wood frame, 6 wide wood frame galleries
across the front (east) on the upper and lower level.
The
design of the house as well as the floor plan was
popular in Texas during the years of
early statehood (mid 1850s) through the 1880s. It is
similar to the Captain Nelson Merrell house c. 1870 in
the Round Rock vicinity, though not as large. It also
bears a resemblance to the Colonel Joseph H. Polley
house near Sutherland Springs, Wilson County.
The
house is bilaterally symmetrical featuring a central
entrance flanked by a pair of large, double-hung,
six-over-six windows facing the galleries. Cut stone
sills are used for both windows and doors. Window
lintels are rugged, flat arches of shaped voussoirs with
sturdy, key stones. The same style was used on the three
fire places openings.
The
exterior, double door of the second floor leading to the
porch is original. It is handmade of heavy 1/2” thick,
chamfered planed panels reinforced with three 1" thick
crosspieces. Each of the doors, upstairs and down is
framed by 4 clear glass sidelights over solid mood
panels at the bottom about a third of the way from the
floor. The main entry door is a single modern
factory-made piece.
The
symmetry of the front east of the house is maintained on
the north and south facades with one window identical to
those on the front, on each side of the two chimneys on
both floors. A small, double hung, six-over-six window
is adjacent to the third chimney on the south facade in
the one story kitchen in back of the dining room. A
lumber board and batten 1960s extension (also, one
story) has been built from the original shed-roof
kitchen across the rear, west, façade.
Except
for this recent addition all the walls are of
load-bearing, masonry set on stone foundations. The
steep pitch roof is covered now with composition
roofing, although an earlier picture shows wood
shingles. There is an 18" overhang.
The
six, tapered, cedar columns on the galleries are
original. The simple, squared balusters of the first
floor railing were copied to replace those on the second
level, removed in the 1950s when the McLouds enclosed
this gallery for a sleeping porch. The gallery was
restored to its original open plan in the mid 1960s.
To
secure necessary stabilization of the north facade
chimney tie rods were run "through the house. These were
fastened to the north wall by two parallel 9" iron bands
that extend across the chimney and adjoining wall. One
band is some 24" below the roof and the lower some 7'
above ground level. The five rods are secured to the
bands with fives five pointed star scutcheons. The lower
rods are fastened to the ''inside wall of the core
stairwell; upper rods extend through the attic to a band
across the chimney on the south facade.
The
main entrance opens onto a shallow hall that provides a
narrow entry to the two downstairs rooms and to the
stairs leading to the second level. Immediately
adjacent to the entry on the north is a room running
the width of the house. The room could have been living
room/bedroom as was customary in those days during the
time Dr. and Mrs Owen and four of their seven children
occupied the house.
Boxed
wooden ceiling beams were added in the 1960s to hide the
tension rods. As an interior brace for the bands, small;
stone brackets and a wood beam were added at the ceiling
along the north wall.
Originally
the west door in this room that opened to the outsider
now leads into the frames kitchen extension. The
original wide, door sill is considerably worn, showing
that this was the continually used rear entry and the
only other being through the small kitchen door.
The
shallow, stone fireplaces in both lower rooms have
simple, cedar wood mantles to replace the originals
removed when the fireplaces were covered, along with the
walls, in the 1950s. Across the hall from the living
room is an identical room to the south, the dining room
with an entry to the kitchen.
The
narrow, lean-to kitchen, about 6' wide and about 20'
long has its own small, shallow cooking fireplace with
'a 12" raised stone hearth and no mantle. A low door on
the west leads to the outside. A modern kitchen has been
installed here within the old walls with no structural
changes involved. A lavatory and storage have been
placed in the new extension.
All windows in the main block of
the house are set into 22" deep solid, stone walls and
only 20" above the floor for draft ventilation. The
floors and ceilings are all of 6", 7", and 8", random
width pine. Only on the second floor do the rooms have
the original doors of 8' wide h" chamfered pine boards,
painted the popular rose color of the period.
Entry
to the two upstairs bedrooms is from the narrow,
stairway hall that also
leads to the front gallery. There are no
fireplaces in these rooms or evidence of flues. Each
room has a pair of tall windows facing the gallery and
onion each side of chimney.
Stone
braces similar to those in the living room below have
been added at ceiling level in the north bedroom.
Partitions for closet space and bathroom have been added
to the west end of both rooms; but there has been no
structural change. Cornice moldings in all four rooms of
the house are of 8" wide pine. In the two bedrooms
however, an additional thin molding trim adds
refinement. Plaster that once covered the interior walls
through the house has been removed changing the
character of the house with the prevailing natural,
rough texture and color of limestone.
A
story concerning the house is that at one time and
another it was a stopping place for travelers and that
one of the upstairs rooms was used for women and the
other, across the hall for men.
The
Owen house, called the St. Charles Hotel in recent times
is one of the few remaining two story structures on its
original site among the single story structures in this
Old Round Rock historic zone. It is in good repair and a
fine example of simple, frontier, vernacular
architecture somewhat rare in its being two story and in
the fine quality of the workmanship of the stone work.
Round
Rock's first permanent post office was housed in Thomas
C. Oatts's mercantile store built in the manner and
style of the period of the 1850s, its stone Walls made
to be plastered, its floors of smooth, creek stones
chosen for their durability The immediate area is now
being rapidly and surely engulfed by house developments
and commercial buildings located on local streets state
roads and a national high‑way. A large extensively paved
shopping center, the first of more to come, is adjacent
to the vulnerable) open space surrounding Old Round
Rock.
The
two structures of the complex show the development that
took place in a frontier community located on a main
highway. Each building makes its own statement of the
historic past. The store and post office and the Owen
house with their several neighbors have become a small
island a 19th century settlement of mellow, Texas
limestone.
William
M Owen House end notes and old photos.pdf
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Williamson County 
