Hillsboro Residential Historic District

A high concentration of late 19th- and early 20th-century houses reflecting a wide range of styles and heavy dependence upon wood as building material, impart to this district a distinctively residential character. Superb design and craftsmanship are reflected in both the modest and sophisticated eclectic, vernacularized versions of nationally popular house forms as might have been represented in builders' guides and pattern books. The late 19th century produced an almost infinite variety of architectural features and house forms based on modified Queen Anne, late and transitional Victorian, and Neo-Classical Revival styles. Characterizing features included an intersecting gable roof or combination hipped and gable roof, dormers, shingled gable ends, wrap-around porches with fancifully carved wood trim, and columned and pedimented porticos. Of particular significance are the exquisite interiors featuring carved wooden detailing and various ornamental glass windows. Quite exceptional are the larger, asymmetrical Victorian types designed by architect Tom Sowell. Significant for their architectural quality, too, are the district's three brick churches, which represent some of the oldest surviving ones in the city. Early 20th-century houses within the district, including eclectic forms and variations of the bungalow, display a distinctly local character and more modest scale than their larger, late 19th-century counterparts.

Landscape Architecture

Landscape architecture within the residential district has traditionally consisted of informally landscaped, wide lawns fronting on tree-lined sidewalks, creating a clear residential environment. By the early 20th century, citizens' preferences for a more esthetic residential surrounding were reflected in their front yards, which were transformed from bare, fenced-in tracts to continuous lawns bordering on dense, tree-lined streets. Some residences within the district, such as the Edwin Vaughan and Tarlton-Morris houses, exhibited more formally landscaped grounds with park-like settings, ponds, and grape arbors. During the 1930s, an interest in landscaping this residential neighborhood was renewed, largely through the efforts of Mrs. George G. Smith, who operated, on the town square, a landscaping company specializing in ornamental shrubs, evergreens, roses, and bulbs.

Community Planning and Development

Incorporating a large section of the city's original grid street pattern, the Hills- boro Residential Historic District reflects the early residential development and planning of the community. With the advent of the railroad, new residential subdivisions, such as the Craig and Marshall additions, were surveyed east of the Courthouse Square where more affluent members of Hillsboro's population originally purchased lots and built elegant homes. The development of this residential neighborhood was historically centered along two major thoroughfares, East Elm and East Franklin Streets. These two streets, which extended westward through the commercial center to form the northern and southern boundaries of the courthouse square, continue to function as the main arteries through east Hillsboro.

Education

Early public and private educational institutions located within the Hillsboro Residential Historic District were focal points in the community and reflected an expanding population and prosperous economic climate. One of the most significant private schools within the district and city, the Patterson Institute, was established in 1891 and originally located on an elevated site on the south side of Corsicana Street (lots 49-51, Block 355, Craig Addition). This educational complex, now demolished, was surrounded by a white picket fence and consisted of three, rectangular, wood-frame buildings featuring two-tier verandas, hipped and gable roofs, and a single turret. The district's only surviving, early 20th-century educational building - Franklin School - currently occupies several lots on the eastern edge, and features corbeled brick detailing below the eaves, and transomed double doors recessed beneath tall round arches of stone.

Local History/Prominent Citizens

The Hillsboro Residential Historic District evolved east of the commercial center as a direct result of the town's economic prosperity and increased population in the late 19th century. This residential neighborhood, comprised of many prominent civic leaders, businessmen, and industrialists who played a vital role in Hillsboro's early development, originally consisted of a few lots carved from the original town site or the Steiner Donation bordering on the eastern edge of downtown. As settlement of the town progressed eastward, new subdivisions were formed from farm tracts owned by several large landowners, such as Dr. William Craig. One of the earliest residents of the district was A.J. Thompson, who shipped into Hillsboro the first carload of lumber ever brought into the town, to erect his first home at 108 Corsicana, the first on the south side of this street. Thompson planted trees along the entire length of Corsicana Street, as well as sections of Smith and North Pleasant streets, at his own expense. He was also responsible for the first street improvement in Hillsboro, which consisted of depositing 900 loads of gravel in West Elm Street from the Katy Depot to the courthouse square. A prominent civic leader and community planner, Thompson served as director of the Lake Park Association and the Hillsboro Cotton Mills and helped plan and build the old Park Pavillion, the Cotton Mills building, and the city's first elevator. Additional distinguished figures residing in the district were instrumental in the development of Hillsboro economically, industrially, and educationally. Prominent in civic affairs, and a pioneer in the development of the cotton seed oil industry in Texas, was E.D. Woodall, who erected a fine house at 412 East Franklin. Other notable citizens who built substantial homes in the district were Congressman Joe Abbott, Louis Brinn, a successful dry goods merchant; E.S. Davis, a prominent banker and engineer; R.S. Lumpkin, who opened the first harness and saddle shop in the area; and J.K. Parr, a Hill County attorney, farmer, and cattleman.