National Register Listing

Donnybrook Duplex Residential Historic District

Roughly bounded by E. 6th St., Donnybrook Ave., E. 8th St., and S. Wall, Tyler, TX

Constructed in 1947 and 1948 by Tyler businessman and developer Robert J. Henderson, the 18 Colonial Revival/Ranch-influenced bungalows in the Donnybrook Duplex Residential Historic District are rare examples of a duplex development in Tyler. The district is part of a larger neighborhood almost exclusively developed with single-family residences. The district sheltered salesmen, store clerks and managers, blue-collar workers and professionals employed in the oil industry, students and widows. The Colonial Revival/Ranch influenced design modestly interprets two of Tyler's most widely built styles and reflects Tyler's growing need for housing space in the years just after World War II when the success of the East Texas Oil Field fueled continuing prosperity. The district documents one type of housing offered to moderate-income and working-class Tylerites and reflects methods used by a single developer in a short time period to create high-quality, moderate-cost housing. The Donnybrook Duplex Residential Historic District is significant for its architecture and for its associations with community development during a period of rapid population growth and economic development fostered by ongoing prosperity resulting from manufacturing and the oil industry. It is also significant as the only known concentration of intact mid-20th-century duplex housing in the city. Related to the historic context of Community Development in Tyler, Smith County, Texas 1846-1950, the district is comprised primarily of domestic and domestic auxiliary resources, which are defined in more detail in section 7 of this nomination and in the Historic and Architectural Resources of Tyler, Texas Multiple Property National Register nomination. The Donnybrook Duplex Residential Historic District is maintained in good condition and retains a high degree of integrity. It derives its primary significance from its architectural form and its associations with Tyler's moderate-income residents during a period of economic growth that fostered intensive community development. For these reasons, the Donnybrook Duplex Residential Historic District is eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places at the local level under Criteria A and C in the areas of significance of community development and architecture within a period of significance extending from 1947 to 1952. Although the period covered by the historical context could not be extended beyond 1950 for financial reasons, Tyler's social, economic and development patterns continued unchanged into the 1950s. Thus the period of significance for this district is extended to the current 50-year mark, which is 1952.

Local significance of the district:
Listed in National Register of Historic Places in 2002.