TXX-3629, Forwards Info Re Eligibility of May House for Inclusion in Natl Register of Historic Places,Per NRC 820525 Request.Info Sent to Tx State Historic Preservation Officer on 830121

Forwards Info Re Eligibility of May House for Inclusion in Natl Register of Historic Places,Per NRC 820525 Request.Info Sent to Tx State Historic Preservation Officer on 830121

ML20071B401
Person / Time
Site:	Comanche Peak
Issue date:	02/22/1983
From:	Schmidt H TEXAS UTILITIES SERVICES, INC.
To:	Youngblood B Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation
Shared Package
ML20071B402	List: ML20071B406 TXX-3629, Forwards Info Re Eligibility of May House for Inclusion in Natl Register of Historic Places,Per NRC 820525 Request.Info Sent to Tx State Historic Preservation Officer on 830121
References
TXX-3629, NUDOCS 8302280256
Download: ML20071B401 (22)

Text

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TEXAS UTILITIES SERVICES INC. Log # TXX-3629

==> nnym mwen mu- wx^s ==== File # 1702.6 10015 clo February 22, 1983 Mr. B. .l. Youngblood, Chief Licensing Branch No. 1 Division of Licensing U. S. Nuclear Regulatory. Commission Washington, D.C. 20555

SUBJECT:

COMANCHE PEAK STEAM ELECTRIC STATION ELIGIBILITY OF THE MAY HOUSE FOR THE NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES

Dear Mr. Youngblood:

Enclosed is a copy of the subject information requested by your May 25, 1982 letter to Mr. R. J. Gary. Please note that this information was sent to Texas State Historic Preservation Officer on January 21, 1983.

If you have any questions about this matter, please call Mr. Richard Werner at (214) 653-4869.

Sincerely, H. C. Schmidt RAW: tis Enclosure C o**

B302280256 830222 DR ADOCK 05000445 PDR 9

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envionment cone;tontr,Inc.

January 21,1983 Dr. LaVerne Herrington, Director Resource Conservation 3 Texas Historical Commission P.O. Box 12276 Capital Station Austin, TX 78711

Dear Dr. Herrington:

The enclosed National Register of Historic Places Inventory Nomination is being sent to you for review at the request of Texas Utilities Services, Inc.

In 1981, we conducted an initial investigation of the May House and recommended that, due to recent major modification, the present structure is not eligible for inclusion on the National Register. I have included copies of the correspondence regarding the house. Further review of the records, and additional inspection have confirmed our original evaluation but we have prepared further documentation in the form of the enclosed Nomination to further explam why we believe the structure is ineligible. .

Thank ycu for your consideration, if you have any questions, please call me at (214) 233-8261.

I Sincerely, ENVIRONMENT CONSULTANTS, INC.

N S. Alan Skinner, Ph.D.

Vice President and General Manager SAS:amm enclosure cc: R. Werner, TUSI l K. Singleton, Waxahachie Main Street Project 4951 Airport Parkway Suite 500 Dallas, Texas 75248 (214) 233-8261

- F.,2No. 20 300 o.. iOsci .

U NITED STATES DEPARTME'NT OF THE INTERIOR

~

NATIONAL PARK SERVICE NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES -

INVENTORY-- NOMINATION FORM DATE ENTERED SEE lNSTRUCTlONS lN HOW TO COMPLETE NATIONAL REGISTER FORMS TYPE ALL ENTRIES -- COMPLETE APPLICABLE SECTIONS ENAME HISTORIC The May House ne the May Place '

AND/OR COMMON '

u 2 LOCATION STREET & NUMBER Nearest road is Texas 144 (2 miles east) _NOT FOR /UBUCATION CITY. TOWN CONG R ESSIONA L DISTRICT Glen Rose _X_ VICINITY OF STATE CODE COU NTY CODE Tavse 9mmarvoll ECLASSIFICATION CATEG ORY OWNERSHIP STATUS PRESENT USE

_ DISTRICT _PU 8 U C _OCCU Pf ED _ AGRICULTURE _ MUSEUM

.18UILDINGIS) 1. PRIVATE X._ UNOCCUPIED _COMM ERCIAL _ PARK

_STRUCTO RE _80TH _ WORK IN PROGRESS _ EDUCATIONAL _ PRIVATE RES10EN38

_ SITE PUBLIC ACQUISITION ACCESSIBLE _ ENTERTAINMENT _REUGIOUS

_ OBJECT _IN PROCESS .1YES: RESTRICTED _GOVER NM Et:T _ SCIENTIFIC l EEING CONSIDERED _YES: U N RESTRICTED INDUSTRIAL _TRANCPORTATION

_NO _MlUTARY 1.OTHER: Unused EOWNER OF PROPERTY NAME Texas Utilities Services Inc.

STREET & NUMBER l Bryan Tower CITY. TOW N STATE l

l Dallas __ VICINITY OF Texas 752()1 ELOCATION OF LEGAL DESCRIPTION COURTHOUSE.

REGISTRY OF DEEDS $ ETC.

Somervell County Courthouse STREET & NUM8ER CITY. TOW N STATE Glen Rose Tovae l

E REPRESENTATION IN EXISTING SURVEYS MTLE The Historic and Prehistoric Archaeological Resources of the Snuaw Crpoli Recorvnir 1973 FEDERAL _ STATE COU NTY _ LOCAL DEPOSITORY FOR URVEY RECOROS O nt nt Anthennnlnm, Snuthovn Mothndie+ Universitv CITY. TOWN STlTE Dallas Tovac 7527s

r.

UDESCRIPTION ,

CHECK ONE CHECK ONE CONDITION

_ UNALTERED )(.0RIGINAL SITE DETERIORATED DAT8l-ll-E3

__ EXCELLENT _ MOVED

__RulNS )(. ALTERED

.XGOOO

_ FAIR _ UNEXPOSED DEsCRIBETHE PREsENT AND ORIGINAL (IF KNOWN) PHYSICAL APPEARANC When built in 1882 on the banks of Squaw (. Figure 1), the May house was a folk houss typical to the area. The house was atwo twosymetrical story stone roomsstruc-with ture with a floor plan of'a southern "I" house:

fire places and a central hall with stairs leading to the second floor.The The second floor was a large single room used for sleeping quarters.

floorplan is illustrated in Figure 2 and a view of the facade Stone masonin 1890 Billis shown as Figure 7 in Skinner and Hurnphreys (1973:16). The limestone was Tiawick built the house with the help of the May family.The roof was gabl quarried from a nearby hill.

on the east and west ends respectively.' Across the south facadeThe there are stone four arched 4 over four double hung windows (Figures 3 and 4).

relieving arches above the windows and door offer the only detailing on the house (Figure 5). The door was in the middle of the south facade flanked on both sides by four windows on the east facade (Figure 6), and j -

four on the west facade of the house (Figure 7). These were placed sym- The metrically around the chimney with two downstairs and two upstairs. There f

l- rear or north facade was probably the same as the south facade.The 1 was also a partial basement.

During this time, the only addition made to the house was a wooden front j porch on the south facade done in 1900. -

It q In 1937, Dallas Parnell purchased the house from the May descendents.

1 was subsequent to this time that Parnell enlarged the house to its present

? d Figure 8 I size. .(See Figure :2 for first f.loor .p.lan showi.ng new . parts anfor The the m in Skinner and Humphreys (1973:17) i most _ drastic change was..the alteration of the roof line (Figure 8 & oth to accomadate the " Southern Colonial" two story front porch added on the south f.acade.. Four, windows were also added across the. front;(Figures' 3, There is a noticable difference across 4, and 6) as well- as Doric columns.the south facade where the ston To the west, a garage, washroom and well room were added On theand northon the east facade a screened-in porch and full basement were adde room, kitchen, bathroom, and playroom downstairs have helped to triple th The original north facade exterior wall became the size of the house.

interior living room wall. What was once .an excellent example of a folk house type had been effectively changed into a Southern Colonial Reviva house typical in Texas during the post-Depression period.

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SIGNIFICANCE .

PERio,D , AREAS oF SIGNIFICANCE -- CHECK AND JUSTIFY BELoW s PREHISTORIC _ARCHEULUGY PREHISTORIC COMMUNITY PLANNING _LANOSCAPE ARCHITECTURE _REUGION

_ 1400 1499 _ ARCHEOLOGY-HISTORIC _ CONSERVATION _ LAW _ SCIENCE 1500 1599 AGRICULTURE _ ECONOMICS UTER ATU R E SCULPTURE

_ 1600-1699 X ARCHITECTURE _ EDUCATION _MiUTARY SOOAL/ HUMANITARIAN

_ 1700 1799 ART ENGINEERING _M U SIC _ THEATER

.X18001899 _COMM ERCE _ EXPLORATION / SETTLEMENT PHILOSOPHY _ TRANSPORTATION

_1900- _ COMMUNICATIONS INDUSTRY POUTICS/ GOVERNMENT OTHER (SPEOFY)

INVENTION spec!FIC DATES BUILDER / ARCHITECT STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE This example of a' folk type house was originally constructed in 1882 for Benjamin F. May, a farmer at Squaw Creek, near Glen Rose, Texas, to replace the family's log house. Benjamin May purchased the land on Squaw Creek in 1877. He and his family lived in a one room log structure which had a side room kitchen. Local stone mason Bill Trawick constructed the May house with the help of the May family who quarried the limestone from a nearby hill, dug the basement, and prepared the foundation. When completed the house was an excellent example of a Southern "I" house (Glassie 1968) with two large downstairs rooms, a central hall with stairs leading to the se- i cond floor and one large room upstairs for sleeping quarters. The old log house was used for a kitchen and dining room. In 1900, a wooden porc.h was added to the south facade and a frome kitchen was added to the north facade.

.As Ben May's children married, they constructed several small houses on the 600 acres that he owned. When Ben May died, his two youngest daughters, 8- Amanda and Low, stayed with their mother in the stone house. In 1928, after the death of both Mrs. May and Amanda, Low married Lee Caldwell and moved out of the house. In January of 1929, the Ranson Swaim family moved into the house. Mrs. Swaim was the daughter of Newton May, one of Ben May's sons, and an heir to the property. In 1937, the Swaims sold the house to Dallas Parnell. After 1937, Dallas Parnell transformed this traditional folk house into a "Gone with the Wind" Southern Colonial Revival style house. A Southern Colonial Revival front facade was added as well as nine rooms which tripled the size of the house. This type of "Gone with the Wind" Southern Colonial l

Revival transformation was typical in Texas during this time period (Alex-ander 1977). The house change hands again and was finally purchased as part of the land acquistion of the Comanche Peak Nuclear Power Plant.

The significance of the May house rests with its original construction as an example of an I' house made of stone. Subsequently, it was modified when rooms were added and the roof line was raised. At this time part of the originalfacade was torn apart and then remortared after creating four out-of-style windows. The original fabric of the house has been signific-ally altered and we anticipate that recreation of the origine1 condition is not feasible.

1 9 MAJOR BIBLIOGRAP'HICAL REFERENCES Glassie, Henry: Pattern in the Material Folk Culture of the Eastern United States (University of Pennsylvania 1968), p. 67.

Skinner, S. Alan and Gerald K. Humphreys: The Historic and Prehistoric ArChaeologiCat Resources of the Squaw Creek Reservoir (Southern Methodist University, Contribution iq Anthropology 10, '1973), pp.14-17 Alexander, Drury Blake: Texas Homes of the Nineteenth Century (University of Texas Proce 1Q771 n Qn l

10 GEOGRAPHICAL DATA ,

ACREAGE OF NOMINATED PROPERTY l UTM REFERENCES A l6l1,7l4,2,51 13 517,715 3eRl BI.llIiIiiIIiIile , I '

ZONE EASTING NORTHING ZONE EASTING NORTHING Clilll , l,,ll,!,!,,I oLi_I l l i l i i l l i I i l i i l  :

VERBAL BOUNDARY DESCRIPTION LIST ALL STATES AND COUNTIES FOR PROPERTIES OVERLAPPING STATE OR COUNTY BOUND ARIES STATE CODE COU NTY CODE STATE CODE COUNTY CODE 11 FORM PREPARED BY NAME / TITLE Kate Singleton, Historian and S. Alan Skinner. Archaeoloakt '

ORGANIZATION ' OATE Enviri:nment Consultants. Inc. TELEPHONE STREET & P #MBER 4951 Airport Parkway. Suite 500 (7141 791 R7s1 STATE CITY OR TOWN Dallas Tavne 12 STATE HISTORIC PRESERVATION OFFICER CERTIFICATION THE EVALUATED SIGNIFICANCE OF THIS PROPERTY WITHIN THE STATE IS:

NATIONAL STATE LOCAL As the designated State Historic Preservation Officer for the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 (Public Law 89 665). I hereby norninate this property for inclusion in the National Register and certify that it has been evaluated according to the criteria and procedures set forth by the National Park Service.

STATE HISTORIC PRESERVATION OFFICER StGNATURE TITLE DATE FOR NPS USE ONLY -

' 1 HEREBY CERTIFY TH ATTHIS PRO PERTY IS INCLUDED IN TH E NATIONAL REGISTER DATE DIRECTOR, OFFICE OF ARCHEOLOGY AND HISTORIC PRESERVATION ATTEST: DATE KEEPER OF THE NATIONAL REGISTER

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i Figure 1: Location of the May House near Glen Rose, Texas.

l From the Hill City, Texas 75 USGS map.

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! Figure 3: May House, Somervell Co., Texas.

S. Alan Skinner,1/83, ECI-Dallas. The east end of south facade showing original and reworked l stonework. Note Doric columns and concrete I slab front porch. View is to the north.

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S. Alan Skinner, 8/81, ECI-Dallas. The south facade showing original and reworked stonework with Doric columns and porch roof. View is to the northeast.

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1 View is to the north.

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Figure 7: May House, Somervell Co., Texas.

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Figure 8: May House, Somervell Co., Texas.

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August 6,1981 Mr. Truett Latimer Executive Director Texas Historical Commission P.O. Box 12276 Austin, Texas 78711

Dear Mr. Latimer:

Texas Utilities Services, Inc. (TUSI) has requested that I respond to your letter of August 14, 1980 which is concerned with the cultural resources investigations at the Comanche Peak Power Plant near Glen Rose, Texas.

In 1972,1974 and 1975 I directed studies at Comanche Peak for TUSI. Copies of those reports are being sent to you for you files b'y TUSI as the copies sent previously are apparently no longer available. These reports document the work that was done at Comanche Peak and serve to illustrate the concern that TUSI showed for recording, evaluating and preserving the .paleontological, historical and prehistoric Native American resources included within the lake area and plant site.

These investigations provided a comprehensive survey of the area. As many of the prehistoric sites were surface deposits, their loss was mitigated by totally collecting the artifacts. This information is included in the 1973 report (Skinner and Humphreys 1973). Subsequently, we excavated the Hopewell School site and reported upon it (Gallagher and Bearden 1976). These site locations are now underwater but further work is not possible since they were thoroughly studie ' -d the artifacts were removed.

The only historic site of local significance is the May House which we described in the 1973 report. At that time the house was in private ownership and, sub equently its' disposition was unclear. At present we are preparing a National Register application for the house which will include maps and photographs. This will be submitted to you by TUSI before the end of August as requested in your letter.

If you have any questions, please contact me.

Sincerely, ENVIRONMENT CONSULTANTS, INC.

S. Alan Skinner, Ph.D.

Director of Anthropology SAS/lh 14325 Proton Road

• Dallas, Texas 75234 * (214) 233-8261

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References:

i Gallagher, Joseph G. and Susan E. Bearden ,

1976 The Hopewell School site, a Late Archaic campsite in the central Brazos River valley. Southern Methodist University, Contributions in Anthropology 19.

Skinner, S. Alan, and G.K. Humphreys 1973 The historic and prehistoric archaeological resources of the Squaw Creek Reservoir. Southern Methodist University, Contributions in Anthropology 10.

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