National Register Listing

Morrison, William J., Jr., House

710 N. Olive St., San Antonio, TX

The William J. Morrison Jr. House, constructed in 1912, is a well detailed example of Classical Revival influenced architecture in San Antonio.

The William J. Morrison Jr. House, constructed in 1912, is a well detailed example of Classical Revival influenced architecture in San Antonio. Built in a once exclusive residential area developed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the house occupies a prominent site in the locally designated Dignowity Hill Historic District. Achieving local significance under Criterion C as a popular interpretation of residential Classical Revival architecture, the owners have restored the property using investment tax credits.

With four other contemporaneous homes that form the most prominent and intact collection of buildings facing Dignowity Park in the Dignowity Hill Historic District, the Morrison House faces west on this pronounced hill overlooking the city center of San Antonio. Designated a City of San Antonio Historic District in 1983, this neighborhood grew around the site (now the park) of the first large home built outside of the immediate downtown area. Dr. Anthony Michael Dignowity, a Bohemian immigrant, built his" family's residence, "Harmony House," in 185A starting the first phase of building in the area.

(In 1916, the San Antonio Baptist Association purchased "Harmony House," the Dignowity family's home. Plans for a hospital on the site never materialized and in 1925 local residents requested that the City of San Antonio buy the property for use as a park. Dignowity Park was completed in 1926, following demolition of "Harmony House.")

The neighborhood's second and longest phase of construction boomed following the railroad's arrival from Houston in 1878. With the street rail system soon in place on Dawson Street in middle of the neighborhood, downtown became more accessible and Dignowity Hill became a convenient location for those doing business with the railroad or along Commerce Street, both to the south. During this time of growth and prosperity for San Antonio, Dignowity Hill became home to many prominent local merchants. The Prassels (druggists), Flannerys (bankers), and Staffels (seed merchants), the Friedrichs (refrigeration), and many others had homes in the neighborhood with their businesses nearby. This second construction phase lasted until World War I; a third phase ran from the post-World War I era into the early 1930s.

Emmy Friedrich Morrison and William James Morrison Jr. were married in February 1910. Emmy was the daughter of Ed Friedrich, founder of the successful Friedrich Refrigeration Company. She was the granddaughter of Wenzel Friedrich, a renowned designer of furniture. At the time of their marriage Morrison worked as a bookkeeper and later as an automobile mechanic, according to city directories. He eventually worked as a salesperson for the Friedrich Refrigeration Company.

Albert Wiedenfeld, who lived with his wife Ida in their 1912 house at 720 North Olive, deeded the property at 710 North Olive to Emmy Morrison in 1912. The Morrisons had their home built in 1912, toward the end of the neighborhood's second construction phase. Facing the now demolished "Harmony House," their new home was adjacent to the 1904 residence of Emmy's father at 805 Nolan Street, and the 1909 residence of her brother Richard Friedrich and his wife Gertrude at 727 North Pine.

Popular interest in the 1893 World's Fair, widely available pattern books of the era, and the increasing accessibility of prefabricated parts influenced classically designed residences at the turn of the century. The 1893 World's Colombian Exposition in Chicago aroused an interest in reviving classical styles that became prevalent throughout the country during the first half of the 20th century, while pattern books and prefabricated parts exposed and proliferated this interest to a larger audience. A Classical Revival residence is generally defined with a full-height porch that is supported by classical columns with either Ionic or Corinthian capitals.

The Morrison House has a floor plan typical of small residences of the era. It is decorated with applied details characteristic of Classical Revival architecture. The living/dining room configuration is common in bungalow residences, while the asymmetrical wraparound front porch, projecting bay, and pyramidal roof are more common to earlier Victorian era architecture. However, the Classical Revival influenced details define the house. On the exterior, ornate classical columns with Corinthian capitals support a full-height porch that dominates the facade. The roof line balustrade, removed more than 50 years ago, and the low balustrade around a platform porch were typical variations that distinguished this building as heavily influenced by the 1893 Exposition. Interior Classical details include decorative swags that adorn the bay windows and transoms, crown molding on the ceiling, and large, smooth, interior columns with Ionic capitals.

Emmy Friedrich Morrison died in 1931. Morrison married Lula Halloway Schultz in 1933 and they lived in the house until 1952; he died in 1980 at Corpus Christi.

Grace and Ed Foster purchased the house in 1967 and did some renovation work. Current owners Melba and Rodney Quinn bought the property in 1985 and are completing the restoration and renting it as a single family dwelling.

The Morrison House is placed within a group of residential buildings that display the architectural and economic diversity of the entire neighborhood as it developed from the mid-19th century through the 1930s. Although Classical Revival influenced dwellings are fairly common in San Antonio, the Morrison House is the only well detailed and intact example of this style in the Dignowity Hill Historic District. The house exemplifies the popularization of Classical Revival architecture in the early 20th century.

Local significance of the building:
Listed in National Register of Historic Places in 1990.