Moore-Hancock Farmstead
a.k.a. Site No. 41 TV 1405
4811 Sinclair Ave., Austin, TXIn continuous use as a residence since its construction about 1849, the Moore-Hancock Farmstead features the only log dwelling in Austin known to survive on its original site. The farmstead served as the rural residence of Austin's first mercantilisr, Martin Moore, and his wife Elizabeth White. After amassing substantial mercantile profits in the Republic of Texas era, Moore retired in 1849 to farmstead his wife's land about four miles from the center of town. Fairly wealthy, the Moores probably hired a professional to build a commodious log house in the vernacular center passage tradition. They engaged in cattle and horse raising as well as subsistence farming on the property. In 1866 Elizabeth White Moore sold the 521-acre homestead tract to John Hancock, a well-known Texas Unionist politician. While Hancock probably never lived in the log house, his nephews James and William Hancock apparently managed their uncle's dairy from the house for most of the subsequent two decades. Although it experienced numerous changes following its sale out of the Hancock family in 1899, the property continued to operate as a dairy until about 1930. Evaluated within the context of Agriculture in Texas, 1820-1950, the property is eligible at the local level of significance for listing under Criterion A in the areas of Agriculture and Exploration/Settlement and Criterion D in the area of Archeology (Historic/Non-Aboriginal).
Local significance of the building:Listed in National Register of Historic Places in 1994.
The National Register of Historic Places is the official list of the Nation’s historic places worthy of preservation. Authorized by the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, the National Park Service’s National Register of Historic Places is part of a national program to coordinate and support public and private efforts to identify, evaluate, and protect America’s historic and archeological resources.