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The Dunbar Home Economics Building, located behind the Dunbar Recreation Center, is in the process of receiving a National Register of Historic Places Designation. This will create more opportunities for grants to preserve this building, which was a part of the San Marcos Colored School — the only part that did not burn in the fire in the 80s. Pictured is the Dunbar Home Economics Building.
Daily Record photo by Shannon West
A new grant aimed at diversifying the National Register of Historic Places is helping San Marcos diversify its own historic register.
The next building to be preserved in town is the Dunbar Home Economics building, which was part of the school for Black children during segregated times.
San Marcos Historic Preservation Officer Alison Brake gave a bit of insight into the history of the Dunbar Home Ec building. She said the building was originally built in 1919 as an open-air pavilion for white schoolchildren. Between 1930 and 1935, the building was moved to the West End School campus then to the San Marcos Colored School and finally the Southside School, which was the school for Hispanic children.
“It was used as a place of vocational training — Home Economics training for women,” Brake said. “And then it also exemplifies the segregation era practice of providing inadequate educational resources for African American public schools. This was a building that was first a part of a white school, and then … when the white school didn't need it any more, they cast it off to them.”
Brake said this is really more of a re-listing of the Dunbar Home Economics Building.
“So the school itself, the Dunbar school, was actually listed on the National Register in 1982,” Brake said. “But the main school burned in 1986. So then everything was de-listed, including this [Dunbar Home Ec] building, because … the main school wasn't there anymore.”
Michele Burleson, Calaboose African American History Museum vice-president, has been a part of the fight to preserve significant African American historical buildings across the Dunbar neighborhood. She said she’s happy that the Dunbar Home Economic building will be preserved but hopes in the future there will be opportunities to preserve significant buildings around the entire Dunbar neighborhood, including the Willie Mae Mitchell Center.
“That [Willie Mae Mitchell Center] also was a part of the original Dunbar [Neighborhood] before the arson or the fire back in the 80s,” Burleson said. 'They moved it away 30-something years ago, [and] moved it out there where the Women's Center is now. Then my mom, our church and a group of people, we all got together, got the building and brought it back to Valley Street and put it down there. It turned into the Boys and Girls Club.”
Burleson said the Willie Mae Mitchell Center has since endured around $400,000 in damages that she’d like to see addressed.
This is officially the time for the Dunbar Neighborhood to shine as the city of San Marcos will be kicking off its preservation plan, which Brake said will guide preservation policy for the next ten to 15 years.
“We’re getting to a point where our preservation program really needs to evolve from just being [city of San Marcos] staff review of certain requests, and really start to look at programming for preservation. And so [that would look like] doing more educational outreach, and working with the people that are in the community to tell their stories,” Brake said, adding that community education could focus on providing information on vital preservation programs like how to receive a Texas Historical Commission’s Undertold Marker. “So trying to work with those communities to give them the confidence to do that themselves … Michele Burleson, she's a great example. She and her family have lived in San Marcos for a long time. They have a lot of that history already, so getting them to feel comfortable enough to apply for things like the official Texas Historic Markers to help tell that story.”
Burleson said that this year was the first year that the Calaboose African American History Museum and the Cephas House was on the Heritage Association’s Home Tour, and she’s hoping that the Dunbar Home Ec building will be included in next year’s tour and possibly the Willie Mae Mitchell Center as well.
“There was really an interest. We probably had over 300 people in those two days, and it was only from like 11 [a.m.] to 4 [p.m.] each day,” Burleson said. “We have so much rich history in the Dunbar areas that we want to preserve that, and we want to share it with everybody.”
In addition, Burleson said the Planning and Zoning Commission, of which she is a commissioner, has directed the city to separate the Heritage Neighborhood from the Dunbar Neighborhood. This means it will now be receiving its own area plan — one that benefits the needs and desires of that particular community.
Brake mentioned the area plans as well and said it could include proposals like educational signage around Dunbar Park that includes information about the school, the teachers and various other parts of the rich history of that location.
“Having it set in a plan helps people who are making the decision to either spend the money or look towards grants,” Brake said. “I think it will really benefit us when we're trying to tell the full story of San Marcos.”
Burleson said there are a lot of improvements in the works for the Dunbar Neighborhood that she is very excited about such as a mural that will be at the site of what used to be a significant store in the community and is now a tattoo shop located at the corner of Center Street and Shady Lane.
“We're excited about that. We want to do more murals,” Burleson said. “[We’re] currently working on a walking tour … so that people can come and walk that neighborhood and see where things used to be. We want to try to bring some signage and other things back to the area so that people can come back, and you'll know what used to be there and why it was so important — all of the Black businesses and stuff like that.”
Learn more about the Dunbar Home Ec building and Dunbar Neighborhood National Register of Historic Places designation at the website: arcg.is/nS4KH
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