East Austin bids adieu to another historic bungalow

Monday, October 7, 2024 by Kali Bramble

After a century on East Austin's Cotton Street, a little blue Craftsman bungalow is finally biting the dust, with new owners getting the go-ahead from the city's Historic Landmark Commission to proceed with demolition.

A different outcome seemed possible just last month, when commissioners voted to initiate the site's historic zoning based on ties to Effie Yerwood , a former civic leader and teacher whose career at Anderson High School spanned nearly four decades. In the end, the campaign for preservation proved short-lived, with commissioners ruling last Tuesday that the building failed to meet the bar for historic zoning.

A Huston-Tillotson University alum, Yerwood put down roots at 1205 Cotton St. in 1912, pursuing a career in public education at a time when the state of Texas refused to license black educators. Though her husband died early in their marriage, Yerwood sank roots deep anyway, constructing and leasing a second building on the property for supplemental income.

Nearly 50 years after her death, present owners say what remains of Yerwood's lifelong home has become largely dilapidated, citing rot, foundation and roof issues as their primary evidence.

Despite their preservationist bent, commissioners voted against initiating historic zoning in a 7-2 vote, deciding that the home's lack of distinctive architectural features proved a weak case for landmarking. Still, commissioners hope the history unearthed over the course of their review can live on.

"At the very least, this process brought up an unknown and underappreciated story," Commissioner Kevin Koch said. "Hopefully, Mrs. Yerwood will remain in the canon of East Austin's history. I'm not sure this particular building lived up to that caliber – hopefully her name can be celebrated in some other way in the future."