Randomness around downtown Nac

That's some graffiti/artwork on the Banita Creek Bridge, built in 1941 under the Work Projects Administration. But more about the bridge later.

Q. & A. with Diedrich Rulfs

The local newspaper, The Daily Sentinel (subscription only), yesterday conducted a question and answer with Diedrich Rulfs (the Master Architect of Nacogdoches). The "interview" was conceived by Sarah O'Brien of the Nacogdoches Main Street organization, and appears to have been conducted with local Rulfs expert, Dr. Jere Jackson. I got a plug:

Q. What book are you reading now?

A. The most complete accounting of Rulfs' projects still standing is an electronic book by Nacogdoches resident Chris Adams titled "Diedrich Rulfs; Master Architect of Nacogdoches." It has contemporary photos of all the Rulfs structures identified so far. It is viewable online at: http://exquisitelyboredinnacogdoches.blogspot.com/2009/06/diedrich-rulfs-master-architect-of.html.

The post wherein Miss Havisham meets Judge Stephen W. Blount

The 1897 Judge Stephen W. Blount House in Nacogdoches
In her autobiography, A Kind of Magic (1963), Edna Ferber compared Galveston, Texas, to wealthy spinster Miss Havisham, the "gray, mournful abandoned bride of Dickens' Great Expectations."

Shots from weekend strolls

This is the Old Opera House, built in 1888, and designed by Diedrich Rulfs. Legend has it, the Marx Brothers had fortuitous night in that very building.

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Right across from the Old Opera House, this the the Old Commercial Bank/M.G. Hazel Building. It was built in 1901, and designed by Diedrich Rulfs.

Here is a side view of the Maria Davidson Apartments. Built in 1928, this is considered to be one of the last of Diedrich Rulfs' designs. He would not have lived to see it, passing away in 1926. The building is the Spanish Revival/Mission style. Ironically, despite the fact Nacogdoches was a Spanish colony as one of its earliest incarnations, this is perhaps the only building in town done in the Spanish Revival style. It is certainly the only one Rulfs did, making it an experiment in my mind.

When those trees are full of their leaves, this view of the Roland Jones House doesn't really exist, so I've made a couple of attempts over the last couple of winter months to get a good one at this angle. This is the view from the corner of Church and Hospital Streets.

Built in 1895 by Diedrich Rulfs, this is the rear view. And finally, the front, "classic" view of this, Rulfs' Victorian masterpiece:

Victorian morning

This past Saturday, I took advantage of the first sunny day we've had here in well over a week to get some shots of two favorite Diedrich Rulfs masterpieces, the M.E. Rudisill House (1896) and the Roland Jones House (1895). Specifically, the morning sunlight really brought out the Queen Anne/Victorian detailing:

With busy North Street being just to the left in this picture, it was almost as if the 21st and 19th centuries were separated by merely the front yard of the Rudisill House.

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Nacogdoches' chief competitor of the magnificent Victorian homes of Galveston's leading architect, Nicholas Clayton, the Roland Jones House:

Zion Hill First Baptist Church

After building a number of residences in Nacogdoches in the Prairie or Bungalow style (showing the influence of Frank Lloyd Wright), Diedrich Rulfs returned to his Gothic and Victorian roots on what must be of one of the finest churches built at that time in Texas for a black congregation. The Zion Hill congregation dates back to 1879. In 1914, the congregation moved to the Lanana Street building designed by Rulfs. According to information included in the National Register listing's narrative for the Judge Stephen Blount House, the church's Gothic Revival tower closely resembles the tower of the church where Rulfs was married at Atenserfeld, Germany:





The view from Oak Grove Cemetery, where Rulfs and a few family members are buried.
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Woot!

(source)

Diedrich Rulfs: Master Architect of Nacogdoches

May 16, 2011 UPDATE: In honor of The Daily Sentinel (subscription only) having an "interview" with Diedrich Rulfs, and a link back to me, I hereby make all the pages of this ridiculously high-priced Blurb book temporarily viewable. Wouldn't you much prefer the actual, tactile sensation of finger on high-quality page? Or an attractive edition sitting on your very own coffee table?? I'm just sayin'.

Announcing the completion and publication of the 2nd (and hopefully final) edition of Diedrich Rulfs: Master Architect of Nacogdoches. This 130-page book (previous version was 112) includes all of the photographs I used in my posts devoted to the architecture of Diedrich Rulfs, and several I didn't. Two copies of this book are available at the University of Houston library. You can get a free taste at my Rulfs Flickr set.

Diedrich Rulfs...

By Chris Adams

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