The City of Waxahachie recently launched a project to update the City’s historic resources survey undertaken in 1985. The survey efforts will involve documentation of properties in Zone 1, which consists of all properties on the north and south sides of Marvin Avenue and south of Marvin Avenue, extending to the 1973 ETJ boundary of Waxahachie.
To help fund the project, Historic Waxahachie, Inc. received a grant from the Texas Historical Commission through the City’s Certified Local Government Program. The survey and report will be conducted by the Austin-based firm HHM & Associates, Inc., under the guidance of Anita Brown, City of Waxahachie Director of Downtown Development / Heritage Preservation Officer, and Nancy Post, Historic Waxahachie, Inc. member. The survey and analysis process will result in the preparation of a Historic Resources Survey Report, which will make recommendations for the designation of local historic landmarks and to list historic properties in the National Register of Historic Places. The Historic Resources Survey Report also will establish priorities for local preservation and rehabilitation efforts, in coordination with economic development and preservation programs for the City. This project will involve only gathering of information and will entail no changes to zoning.
The historic resources survey will have three major components – field documentation, historical research, and report preparation. Field documentation will be concentrated in the area described above during the upcoming weeks of February 11-15, February 25-March 1, and April 1-5. While conducting fieldwork, teams of architectural historians and historians will be out on city streets taking photographs and documenting the architectural features of historic buildings. All photographs will be taken from the public right-of-way, but the field survey team may approach building owners to ask questions about the history of their buildings. Please feel free to approach the field survey team to ask questions about the project or share your interesting stories or facts regarding your property.