December Newsletter
DECEMBER 11, 2025
PRESERVATION TEXAS INSTITUTE UPDATES
Preservation Texas has been awarded two grants to hire a professional structural engineering firm experienced in historic masonry buildings to conduct an assessment of Texas Hall in Tehuacana and to design plans for its stabilization. The Harry L. Willett Foundation notified Preservation Texas that it will provide a grant of $50,000 to match a previously announced grant of $50,000 from the Texas Historical Commission's Preservation Trust Fund. This funding will result in plans that are a critical next step toward the building's short-term protection and eventual restoration in the longer term.
Preservation Texas acquired Texas Hall in October, along with several other historic buildings on the 10-acre campus that formerly housed Trinity University and Westminster College. In the coming years, we plan to transform the campus into the Preservation Texas Institute.
We have also accepted a generous donation of a lightly used Viking commercial stove from Justin Dudley. This stove is being installed in the commercial kitchen in Louisiana Hall (dormitory) to replace the 1950s stove that is long past its prime.
PT staff and volunteers have begun preliminary work at the PT Institute property in Tehucana. Over 60 cubic yards of trash have been removed from the 1940s Barracks and in the process important historic artifacts have been identified and saved. We have also installed a temporary tarp over areas of the Barracks roof that were actively leaking, and plan to replace its roof in the short term. Plumbing repairs are nearly completed for Louisiana Hall which suffered numerous leaks after a freeze last year.
We have acquired several artifacts associated with Westminster College, including a 1920s saxophone owned by a member of the college band as well as a diploma. We welcome potential donations of artifacts associated with Tehuacana, particularly the schools that occupied the campus: Trinity University (1869-1902), Westminster College (1902-1950), and the later Congregational Methodist-run Westminster Junior College and Bible Institute (1953-1972).
Visit SaveTexasHall.org to explore the site’s history, learn more about our plans for the Institute, find out how you can get involved, and make a tax-deductible donation toward the project. Your support is essential to making this vision a reality!
WEST TEXAS UPDATES
PT Gets Support for West Texas Operations
Preservation Texas has been awarded a grant of $50,000 from the Harry L. Willett Foundation to support operations at our West Texas Regional Office in El Paso, staffed by Victor Hurtado. In addition to managing the West Texas Heritage Center, the office organizes regional educational events, hands-on workshops, and projects through our preservation services program. We are grateful to the foundation for its continued support of West Texas, as well as Central Texas, which it supported with a grant earlier this year.
We also extend our gratitude to Joe and Lanna Duncan—owners of the Hotel Paisano in Marfa, the Hotel El Capitan in Van Horn, and The Lodge at Cloudcroft in New Mexico—for their annual contributions of $5,000 over the past three years in support of our West Texas programs.
Registration is Open for the 2026 West Texas Regional Preservation Summit - January 29 & 30 in El Paso
Join Preservation Texas in downtown El Paso for an educational event exploring historic preservation in Far West Texas. Sessions will cover Preservation 101, incentives, planning strategies, and regional case studies–providing valuable insights for professionals, advocates, and volunteers alike. Early registration is $40 for Preservation Texas members and $50 for non-members. A student rate and a virtual attendance option are available for $20. To learn more and register, visit preservationtexas.org/wtxsummit26!
An optional hard hat tour of the historic Kress Building (pictured above), which is currently undergoing rehabilitation, will be offered on January 29. Tour registration is $20 per person, and is available to Preservation Texas members only. If you are not yet a member, we invite you to become one!
PT to Prepare Preservation Plan for Turner Home in El Paso
Preservation Texas has signed an agreement with the El Paso County Medical Society (EPCMS) to provide consulting services for the development of a Preservation Plan for the 1910 Turner Home in El Paso. The Turner Home, a Trost & Trost-designed residence, is a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark (1982) and part of the Montana Avenue National Register Historic District. It was donated to the EPCMS by Dr. S.T. Turner in 1946 and has served as their offices since then. The Preservation Plan will inform future improvements intended to enhance the property’s eligibility for the state's Historic Tax Credit program.
SESAH Conference Coming to El Paso - Fall of 2027
Thanks to the advocacy of Preservation Texas, the Southeast Chapter of the Society of Architectural Historians (SESAH) has selected El Paso as the host city for their 2027 annual conference. The event will take place at the historic Hotel Paso Del Norte and will feature two full days of academic paper sessions, followed by a Saturday field study tour of notable regional architecture. With its diverse architectural landscape, from 17th-century Spanish Colonial missions to mid-century modern landmarks, El Paso provides an ideal setting for SESAH’s exploration of architectural history and preservation.
West Texas Depots Exhibit on Display at the West Texas Heritage Center
Stop by the West Texas Heritage Center in downtown El Paso to explore our temporary exhibition, on view now through March 1, 2026! This bilingual exhibit showcases five endangered, lost, and saved historic West Texas railroad depots from El Paso, Sierra Blanca, Fort Stockton, Sanderson, and Marathon (pictured below).
RETAIL PROGRAMS
Preservation Texas is now offering a selection of original 19th-century prints for sale on Etsy, including botanicals, birds, and Victorian fashion lithographs and engravings. These prints were conveyed to Preservation Texas with the Bassett family estate in 2011, and have been sitting in storage untouched for many years. There are hundreds if not thousands of historic prints in the collection, and those currently listed online are just the beginning.
Visit etsy.com/shop/PreservationTexas to shop the collection. Order by December 16th to receive your prints in time for Christmas! Every purchase directly supports our nonprofit mission.
PRESERVATION PROGRAMS
Preservation Texas has issued the final disbursements to the subgrantees in our Texas Rural African American Heritage Grant Program, funded by a $750,000 Paul Bruhn Grant from the National Park Service in 2022. Over the past three years, we have awarded matching grants of $35,000 to $75,000 to ten endangered African American buildings for critical stabilization and repair. The program has been managed by Conor Herterich, Preservation Texas's Northeast Texas Program Officer in Tyler. As part of the program, each site has been, or is in the process of being, listed in the National Register of Historic Places. In addition, all ten sites are now protected for the next decade through preservation easements.
Pictured: Conor Herterich delivered remarks at the June 27th ribbon-cutting ceremony at Mount Zion United Methodist Church in Belton, celebrating the completion of its rehabilitation, which was made possible in part by a grant from our Texas Rural African American Heritage Grant Program.
Earlier this fall, Preservation Texas was awarded its second $750,000 Paul Bruhn Historic Revitalization Grant from the National Park Service to support economic development through the preservation of historic log buildings in rural Texas. Stay tuned for details about how to apply for funding and specific eligibility requirements coming soon!
EDUCATION PROGRAMS
Last month, Preservation Texas and the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department hosted a hands-on preservation trades training workshop at Bonham State Park. Participants learned traditional stone and timber construction techniques from heritage trades experts Ron Siebler, Rick Wood, and Joseph Janota, then applied those skills to repair the park’s historic 1936 CCC-built Pump House.
Thanks to a grant from the Historic Preservation Education Foundation, Dallas filmmaker Mark Birnbaum documented the workshop and is producing a series of videos that will be released soon. We look forward to continuing our partnership with TPWD to offer similar preservation training opportunities in state parks across Texas.
SUPPORT THE 2025 ANNUAL FUND
As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, our work is made possible by the generosity of our members and donors. Will you consider making a tax-deductible year-end gift to Preservation Texas to help us build on this year's momentum? Your support strengthens our capacity to empower Texans to preserve their cultural heritage, and to safeguard important historic buildings, collections, and cultural landscapes for future generations.
