Easley Home Historical Marker, Georgetown, Texas

The Easley-Raper home at 1310 Olive Street, Georgetown, Texas, is located on the south half of Block 32 of Snyder's Addition. This block was a part of the William Addison Survey in Milam District, (1) out of which Thomas B. Huling, Henry Millard, and George Washington Glasscock (partners in land speculation beginning in 1835) bought 3221 acres. (2) Disagreements among the partners led to the dissolution of the co-partnership on Jan. 20, 1839, and after extended litigation, Glasscock received the 3221 acres as his portion of their extensive property, on May 18, 1850. (3) From Glasscock, the land went to his heirs. A son, Albert H. Glasscock received 500 acres valued at $1,000, which included Block 32, in February 1870. (4)

On Jan. 11, 1884, A. H. Glasscock sold 39.36 acres of the above tract to D. H. and J. W. Snyder, who then formed the Snyder Addition.

(5) The Snyder Brothers, on April 17, 1889, sold the entire Block 32 to William T. Tisdale for $600. The streets bounding the block were Palmetto, Olive, Magnolia, and Maple; Palmetto and Magnolia have since been changed to 13th and 14th streets. Tisdale resold the full block on Sept. 1, 1908, for $1,000 to R. W. Tinsley, who in turn sold the south one-half of the block 32 to S. A. Easley on July 7, 1913, for $1100. Until this point, apparently, no residence was erected on the south half of the block. (6)

Soon after Easley's purchase of the lot, Belford Lumber Co. of Georgetown began construction on a residence for the Easley family, and also built a barn, chicken house, fence, and added a partition in the cellar of the residence before the project was completed. (7)

The residence is bungaloid in style, with modifications that seem to lend grace and comfort to it.

It is 11/2 stories, of the brick exterior, wood trim, and slate roof, the earth-tones being used in the brick. The commodious porch extends along the front (east) and south sides of the home, with four brick columns across the front, and one additional column on the south porch. Chimneys are of matching brick, and four dormers intersect the roofline, one on each side of the second floor, forming three bedrooms, a bath, and a screened porch on the upper level. Decorative brackets under the eaves on both first and second floors soften the rather simple lines of the architecture. (8)

The downstairs rooms include large living and dining rooms, den/library, and downstairs bedroom and bath, butler's pantry, kitchen, utility room, and porch, originally open, but closed in with jalousie windows sometime between 1938 and 1968. Two fireplaces, typical of those installed by Belford Lumber Co: were shallow, intended for coal burning. The designs differ, but both mantels are of carved oak, and tile trim is used on the sides. The beamed ceiling of the living and dining rooms and the wood paneling are of oak. Beveled leaded glass is used in and around doors and windows throughout the exterior, and five interior doors (including two double French doors) and high windows in the dining room contain stained or leaded glass. Nearly all original interior and exterior fixtures remain in place, including fixtures of the two baths. The downstairs bath has an unusually large corner lavatory and large French porcelain tub. A basement once housed the coal furnace and coal chute and is believed to have contained a cistern. (9)

Changes to the exterior include the enclosure of the back porch.

Originally the dormer window wood trim is believed to have been cedar shakes, replaced when they rotted with asbestos siding sometime before 1968. Present owners, with the advice of their architect, Leon Chandler of Austin, have replaced all the asbestos with clapboard siding which he deemed suitable to the period. All other original materials are intact, including the slate roof and the wooden porch. Easley, the owner-builder, was an engineer and devised a special kind of unobtrusive metal drain around the outer edge of the wooden floor of the porches. This is credited with preventing the common problem of rotted porch floors. Interior changes have been made only in the kitchen, which has been rearranged and rebuilt for more efficiency. The basement remains, but the cistern, if it existed, has been closed off, and the coal furnace and chute are no longer used. The Belford Co., considered for many decades one of the outstanding firms in Texas for sound, careful construction practices, could obtain materials by railroad from anywhere in the nation, and C. S. Belford, the owner, oversaw all construction jobs, demanding first-class materials and first-class workmanship. If an architect was employed for the Easley home, descendants and available records do not reveal it. It is known that Belford Co. furnished many customers with books of blueprints for them to choose from in designing a home. Belford himself was capable of making alterations as desired by the owner. (10) A garage stood at the rear of the home for many years and could have been the "barn" listed in the 1913 contract ledger of Belford Co. The wooden garage was near the residence and remained intact until the present owner purchased the place. The original building was made into a game room about 1974 and was extended to the west for storage space. The original chicken house and fence no longer exist. (11)