John Cotton
and I? We are on the case. It’s our mission, and we choose to accept
it. What are we up to? Like Belushi and Aykroyd, we’re on an Austin
College mission from Gaad.
First, some history. It’s the history of one block of downtown Austin.
John and I have nearly 50 years of experience at UT System
Administration, where we’ve been running a little System IT shop. John
began work for our department in 1994, and hired me in 2000. Our
department can be found at the sparkling, brand new UT System
Administration tower, which sits in downtown Austin on 7th street
between Lavaca and Colorado.
The new System Administration tower
building recently replaced two smaller UT System buildings. One, built
in the 1960s and located on the corner of Lavaca & 7th, would
eventually be called the Lavaca building. The other, built in the 1930s
and located on the corner of Colorado & 7th, was named the Colorado
building. Before the new tower, John and I call the Colorado building
home. This building was leased by UT System Administration back in the
1980s; its previous occupant was the Austin American Statesman
newspaper.
It’s kind of fun to think about. From the 1930s until
the 1980s, Austin’s primary newspaper could be found in the same
building where John & I spent our careers. Roo Tales will often be
posted from my UT System office and will include Statesman articles
about Austin College during this era. Those old Statesman articles were
likely written in the same downtown block nearly 100 years ago.
But this post is not even about the Colorado building. It’s not about
the corner of 7th and Colorado at all. It’s about the OTHER corner.
The corner of 7th and Lavaca. That’s where we get to the good stuff.
The Lavaca building constructed in the 1960s replaced an iconic piece
of Austin history: the First Presbyterian Church of Austin. You can
see this church in the background of a 1930s photo of the Colorado
building, the Statesman’s new home. This church has a story to tell.
Austin College founder Daniel Baker’s life in Texas was devoted to both
the establishment and the promotion of Austin College. He spent the
1840s working on the former, until AC was successfully founded in
Huntsville in 1849. He spent the 1850s working on the latter. Baker
moved from Huntsville to Austin in 1850, where he began the tiresome
work of fundraising in the state capital. He also helped with a family
project that year.
His son William M. Baker was a Presbyterian
minister, whose life work was the establishment of a Presbyterian church
in Austin. On May 26, 1850, son William, father Daniel, and other
charter members founded that first church at the corner of 7th and
Lavaca. First Presbyterian occupied that corner for over a century,
before making the difficult decision to move to Northwest Austin and
tear down the church building.
Daniel Baker lived his final years
in Austin. He was an elder in the church he helped his son found in
1850, and spent most of his time lobbying for funds on behalf of Austin
College. Baker passed in Austin, TX in 1857; he’s buried at Oakwood
Cemetery, just south of UT baseball’s Disch-Falk field. The First
Presbyterian Church he helped to found is one of the oldest churches in
Texas.
In 2000, the Texas Historical Commission decided to honor
First Presbyterian’s founding with an historical marker. You can see
the marker in a nearly 20-year old photo in front of the Lavaca
Building. It’s marker number #12363; the marker text reads:
“The
Rev. William M. Baker and five charter members organized the First
Presbyterian Church of Austin on May 26, 1850. Abner H. Cook, future
designer of the Governor’s Mansion, was among the charter members and
was elected a ruling elder. In 1851, members erected a wood frame
building on two lots at this site, which Cook donated to the church. The
members enlarged the structure in 1855, and in 1874 agreed to construct
a stone building. They built the first floor and met there until
funding was available to complete the edifice in 1890. With the later
addition of an annex and tower, it served until 1960, when the
congregation moved to a site in north central Austin. They relocated to
northwest Austin in 1978. (2000)”
And guess what? That marker?
It’s gone. John & I have UT System sources who insist that the
marker disappeared during a SxSW event, and we have something to say
about that.
This aggression will not stand, man. This aggression will not stand.
John and I are now on a mission to see that historical marker restored.
We’ve been in touch with both the Texas Historical Commission and its
Travis County counterpart. Both confirm that the marker should be
standing, and both expressed surprise that it was not.
Most
likely, the historical marker will need to be re-created and replaced.
Yup, we are on it. We’ve begun a conversation with the historical
commission to complete the steps needed to restore that marker.
Apparently, the process takes a good deal of time. No worries Texas.
AC has been around for 170 years. We have patience.
Our
livelihoods are tied to this block. John and I have 50 years working on
this little rectangle. John’s ties to Hope Presbyterian, an offspring
of First Presbyterian, were a huge factor in his decision to travel to
Sherman. The Statesman lived here for the first half of the 20th
century, and Roo Tales rely on Statesman articles during this golden era
of Austin College athletics. Daniel Baker’s First Presbyterian church
called this block home for over 100 years; its first service took place
at that corner within a year of AC’s founding. You better believe we
will get that historical marker restored.
John Cotton and I? We
are on the case. It’s our mission, and we choose to accept it. What
are we up to? Like Belushi and Aykroyd, we’re on an Austin College
mission from Gaad.
