How do you move a historic cottage from one location to another? Well, carefully: This video uploaded this week from the Heritage Society chronicles the easy-does-it, steady-as-she-goes relocation of a Fourth Ward cottage from its perch in Sam Houston Park. The Heritage Society says that the house, originally located on Robin St. in Freedman’s Town, dates to at least 1866. It’s been in the collection since 2002, temporarily sited on Dallas St., while the society awaited the funds to move it to its permanent home beside to the Jack Yates House in that architectural promenade on the park grounds along McKinney St.
***
These aerial photos, snapped by a reader, show the before and after locations of the cottage:
Society collections director Kimberly Wolfe says that now that the house is permanently sited and fully funded, rehabilitation can begin.
- 4th Ward Cottage Move [Heritage Society via YouTube]
- 4th Ward Cottage [Heritage Society]
Images: The Heritage Society (video); Swamplot inbox (others)
Sometimes I do wonder how many of our contemporary structures would be able to survive 150 years (setting aside the threat of the wrecking ball).
I wouldn’t call this structure exactly “surviving”, it looks like the paint is now a structural element and it will fall apart in the next good breeze. But in all seriousness, maintenance plays a big role in how long a structure will last, there are wooden structures all over the world that are hundreds of years old.