Winedale Historical Center:

An Inventory of the Collection, 1961-1993

Historical background of Winedale Historical Center

The Winedale Historical Center, located in the small community of Winedale in northeastern Fayette County, Texas, is an outdoor museum and study center dedicated to Texas history. The Winedale property was purchased in 1963 by Miss Ima Hogg (1882-1975), a Houston philanthropist, arts patron, and advocate of cultural and educational programs, in order to preserve and restore the historic Stagecoach Inn (begun in 1834), located on the property.

In 1965, Miss Hogg collaborated with the University of Texas at Austin to begin developing a cultural study center at Winedale. By 1967, she had given the University of Texas the acreage, the restored buildings and an endowment for their upkeep. At that time, the University of Texas founded the Statgecoach Inn Council to adminster the restoration of the Inn. Today, the once simple farmstead has expanded to contain seven historical buildings situated on the 190-acre tract and is known as the Winedale Historical Center.

The Winedale Historical Center hosts tours and cultural events for the general public, such as the annual Winedale Festival, which includes the Shakespeare at Winedale Theatre performances, and orchestral concerts. The Winedale museum offers exhibitions in Texas cultural history. In addition, the Center provides a setting for scholars, craftsmen, and students to study, observe, and recreate buildings and artifacts from the mid-19th century to the early 20th century.

Beginning in 1969, the University of Texas' School of Architecture began sponsoring workshops in areas of Texas architecture and historic preservation. By 1975, these workshops evolved into the ongoing Winedale Institute in Historic Preservation, a four-week, in-residence, interdisciplinary course in the documentation and recording of historic sites in Central Texas. It is affilitated with the Historic American Buildings Survey of the National Park Service, offering experience in historic documentation, ink on Mylar drafting, and National Register of Historic Places documentation. The Institute is held under the direction of University of Texas Architecture Professor Wayne Bell and is open to undergraduate and graduate students in the fields of architecture, interior design, and American studies.

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Scope and Content of the collection

The materials of the Winedale Historical Center (1961-1993; 6.5 linear ft.), consist of the records of the Winedale Historic Site, a cultural museum and study center, and the Winedale Institute in Historic Preservation, a program of the University of Texas at Austin School of Architecture. The Winedale Historic Site subgroup, (1961-1993; 6.5 linear in.), contains correspondence, photographs, printed material, and drawings detailing the history, the restoration process, and the donation of the site to the University of Texas at Austin by Ima Hogg. Of particular interest is the initial restoration planning (1963-67; .25 linear in.), conducted by University of Texas Professors Wayne Bell and Blake Alexander, and by Walter Freytag, chairman of the Fayette County Historical Survey Committee, as well as the April 1967 dedication ceremony organized by Blake Alexander. The records of the Winedale Historical Center Advisory Council (1965-1983; 2.75 linear in.), which oversees the property, consists of correspondence, reports, and minutes with the bulk of the material from 1965-66 (1.5 linear in.) Early fundraising and planning for restoration projects are documented; included is the preliminary plan for development of Winedale properties (1972).

Correspondence, printed material, creative works, photographs, negative, oral histories, and field notes drawings created and maintained by the Winedale Institute in Historic Preservation (1969-1992; 6 linear ft.) document the Institute's administrative functions and work in the documentation of architecturally historic sites. It includes historic research on the owners, sites, and locales, as well as architectural renderings and photographs (1977-1991). Buildings documented are not limited to the Winedale Complex, but also include sites in the following counties: Austin, Colorado, Fayette, Hays, Refugio, Travis, Washington, and Williamson. The bulk of the records of the Winedale Institute in Historic Preservation are Historic American Buildings Survey projects (5.5 linear ft.), which are mostly residential structures, but also include commercial sites, such as the Kreische Brewery Complex, [erected 1860s] (3 linear in.), the Burton Cotton Gin, n.d. (.5 linear in.), and a business block [erected 1889-1902] in downtown Taylor, Texas (3.25 linear in.) Many of the projects include transcripts and/or audio tapes of oral histories of former occupants of the buildings. If final measured drawings were produced, they were separated and transferred to the Texas Architecture Archive. The administrative records (1975-1992; 5.5 linear in.) deal with student application materials, class roster, and curriculum syllabi, as well as a restoration proposal for the Winedale Dining Facility. The final series (1969-1972; .5 linear in.) consists of papers delivered at architecture workshops on Texas architecture and historic preservation, which were the precursors of the Institute.

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Restrictions

Restrictions on Access

Access is by appointment only to any serious scholar. Rolled materials must be flattened before viewing. A three-day advance notice is required to flatten rolled materials. Portions of this collection are not processed and may not be accessible.

Restrictions on Use

Permission for publication is given on behalf of the University of Texas as the owner of the collection and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder which must be obtained by the researcher. For more information please see the Alexander Architectural Archive's Use Policy.

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Related Material

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Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

Winedale Historical Center collection, the Alexander Architectural Archive, the University of Texas Libraries, the University of Texas at Austin

Processing Information

Processing is not completed. Please see archival staff for more information.

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Detailed Description of the Collection

This collection has not been processed. See archival staff for more information.