From: mary sanger <marysanger70@gmail.com>
Date: June 17, 2019 at 3:30:44 PM CDT
To: Steve.Adler@austintexas.gov, delia.garza@austintexas.gov, leslie.pool@austintexas.gov, alison.alter@austintexas.gov, pio.renteria@austintexas.gov,
Kathie.Tovo@austintexas.gov, jimmy.flannigan@austintexas.gov, ann.kitchen@austintexas.gov, greg.casar@austintexas.gov, Paige.Ellis@austintexas.gov,
harper.madison@austintexas.gov
Subject: Support for Robertson/Stuart and Mair Local Historic District
Members of the Hancock Neighborhood Association enthusiastically supports the application for the Robertson/Stuart and Mair Local Historic District.
The new district would provide valuable recognition for a unique community in Near East Austin where long-established Latino and African American communities maintain a thriving urban neighborhood culture in the shadow of the important historic sites of the Texas State Cemetery and the French Legation.
Nearby are several churches that remain touchstones for these communities, as well as having their own histories during Austin’s Civil Rights movement. Not far from the community stands the historically black Huston-Tillotson University, one of the oldest such institutions in Texas.
In addition to being a living community of individuals, the Robertson/Stuart and Mair district is a walkable museum of working class and middle class house types from the late 19th and early 20th centuries, as well as being home to some remaining commercial structures from the same period.
The area is attractive to tourists and other visitors, drawing University Interscholastic League student tours and others to the Texas State Cemetery and the French Legation. Huston Tillotson now draws students from around the country and the world, as well as serving the neighborhood.
All of these elements combine in a unique combination of a viable historic urban neighborhood with some of the deepest roots in Austin. We hope that the City of Austin will soon approve the application for this important recognition.
Respectfully Hancock Neighborhood Association Officers & Committee Members:
Mark Harkrider
Jim Rankin
Jetta Todaro
David Guarino
Coan Dillahunty
Jennifer Dillahunty
Mary Sanger
Linda Guerrero
Julie Strong
Madelyn Kidd
