Van Zandt Cottage

https://www.star-telegram.com/opinion/bud-kennedy/article286096721.html

80 years of Townes Van Zandt: Meet the music giant Fort Worth barely knows “I think he should have a statue like Stevie Ray Vaughan has” in Austin, said Fort Worth musician Bruce Payne, host and sponsor of HomeTOWNESfest.

We had a great crowd at yesterday's open house, including a large gathering of descendants from K.M. and Minerva! Thanks for spending time with us!

A rare, printed daguerreotype of Louisa Van Zandt Clough (1834-1924). It is possibly a wedding portrait taken by Austin daguerreotypist George A. Davis. Clough was widowed in the Civil War. She lived the later part of her life in Tarrant County, Texas. Her brother was K.M. Van Zandt, a prominent Fort Worth pioneer. You can see this and many other Texas-related papers in the exhibit entitled “The Shifting Shapes of Texas.” It is hosted by UTA Special Collections
See https://libraries.uta.edu/news-events/exhibits

When we lost one of the sister trunks of the beautiful Heritage Live Oak at the Van Zandt Cottage recently, we discovered that it had been home to a honeybee colony. We wanted the girls to find a safe new place to live before the trunk was removed, so we called our friend Terry Leggett of Bee Country USA (https://beecountryusa.com/) for a no-kill honeybee removal.

Please enjoy these photos describing the process!

Fort Worth Parks Forestry Division will come out soon and remove the downed sister trunk. They plan to take it in as large of chunks as possible and hopefully turn the wood into something beautiful!

MANY thanks to the Van Zandt Cottage Friends, Inc., for funding this humane relocation!!!

Our neighboring bees are getting a little buzzy, so we're going to end the open house a bit early. Stay tuned for our next event...and we appreciate those who came put to see us!

Van Zandt Cottage updated their website address.

https://www.star-telegram.com/news/local/fort-worth/article251585863.html

She died at age 9 in 1936, but this Fort Worth girl’s scrapbook is a historical treasure Doris Rae Levy compiled a scrapbook that won a state award but she died before receiving her prize.

Everything is coming along very well!

Van Zandt Cottage's cover photo

We were honored to be a part of the Center for Texas Studies at TCU's architecture tour on April 28th. Thanks for including the Cottage!

What a great weekend for an architecture tour! Our trip included stops at Van Zandt Cottage, Cowtown Coliseum, Traders Oak, and more. We couldn't do it without our our fearless leader, Quentin McGown, whose expertise in Fort Worth history never ceases to amaze or our partners at TCU Extended Education. Thanks to you and to all our attendees for making this another fascinating adventure! Also, a special shout out to Kelli Pickard and Rena Lawrence of Log Cabin Village for opening the Van Zandt Cottage for our group and to the folks behind the new Kelley apartment community on Samuels Avenue who gave us a sneak peek of the historic Garvey House they preserved on site.

How Billy Graham closed down Dallas and co-wrote Townes Van Zandt's 'Pancho and Lefty'

Great story about K.M.'s famous great great nephew, Townes Van Zandt.

dallasnews.com First thing I thought of when I heard that Billy Graham had died was Explo '72, held here 46 summers ago. The festival was otherwise known as the...

Trail Drive extension to get underway soon

FYI...more information about what's happening near the Cottage. As a reminder, for its safety it remains fenced off and inaccessible until this project is completed.

fortworthtexas.gov An eastern extension of Trail Drive will link University Drive and West Lancaster Avenue, improving mobility in the Cultural District and West Seventh area. Project construction begins Feb. 26, 2018.

Yesterday was a big day for the future of the Van Zandt Cottage! A groundbreaking event for the expansion of Trinity Park and the extension of Trail Drive was held at the maintenance compound across the street from the Cottage. The significance? Thanks to the demolition of the compound that started yesterday, the Cottage will eventually sit on 9 additional acres of green space and parkland. This setting will be much more appropriate for the 19th century homestead. Mayor Betsy Price, Tobi Jackson (FWISD School Board President), and County Judge Glen Whitley took part in the festivities and climbed aboard bulldozers to start the demolish process. Enjoy the photos!

Construction fencing will be going up to protect the historic building, the heritage live oak, and the outbuilding at the Van Zandt Cottage homestead. This fencing is being placed in anticipation of the demolition phase of the Park Department maintenance compound and will remain in place until the new Trail Drive construction is complete.

Please respect this barrier as it is, as stated, designed to protect the Cottage. Thanks in advance for your cooperation.

Crawford Gupton, President of the Van Zandt Cottage Friends, received the Great Stewards Award on behalf of the Friends (along with Cheryl and Neil Van Zandt and many other board members present) at the Historic Fort Worth, Inc. Preservation Awards on September 21, 2017. The award was presented to the Friends for their wonderfully successful capital campaign that restored the Van Zandt Cottage.

HFW 2017 Cantey Lecture & Preservation Awards photographed Thursday, September 21, 2017 at The Fort Worth Community Arts Center. Joseph Murphey, Crawford Gupton, Cheryl and Neil Van Zandt. Photography by Bruce E. Maxwell.

Happy 120th birthday, Julia Jackson Chapter 141 of the UDC!! The Julia Jackson Chapter worked on the original restoration of the Van Zandt Cottage in 1936 as part of the Texas Centennial, thus ensuring that is was preserved to tell the story of K.M. Van Zandt and his involvement in the early development of Fort Worth. We enjoyed giving Chapter members a special tour today to celebrate their birthday and their critical involvement in saving this 19th century homestead.

Today the Fort Worth Star-Telegram erroneously reported that the Van Zandt Cottage is being moved as part of the Trail Drive/Trinity Park improvements. Please know that there are NO PLANS to move the Cottage. We are already taking steps to ensure that the site and this historic landmark are kept safe during the upcoming Maintenance Compound demolition and subsequent infrastructure construction. A correction will be printed tomorrow.

Thanks, as always, for your ongoing support!

Fun at the Cottage this past Saturday!

Thanks to Teresa for leading this great class highlighting historic sewing kits. Big thanks also to Jeanie and Emma for helping, and to our wonderful class participants!

Open house today 10 am to 1 pm! Come tour the Cottage and listen to Buttermilk Junction!

Log Cabin Village

Meet Minerva, Isaac, and Frances, the latest acquisitions in the Van Zandt Cottage portion of our collection.

Great Fort Worth Star-Telegram article from 1911 detailing a surprise birthday party for Major Van Zandt. According to the article, this party represented the first time all 14 children had been gathered in one place. Apparently the youngest son had no idea who the oldest was (read more about it)...

We are frustrated to report that we once again have porch damage from a photo shoot featuring a "cake smash." The porch is stained and ants were trailing from the crumbs.

Based on our security video footage, we believe this happened last weekend. We do not know if it was a professional or amateur photographer.

We ask again, PLEASE do not smash cakes on the porch! Please respect this historic site. We will continue to monitor and decide whether, sadly, we need to control access to the site.

Thanks in advance for your cooperation.

For our photographer friends:

Hopefully you've noticed by now that the ugly orange fence is GONE! We do invite you to use the Cottage as a backdrop once again (those of you who were patient and didn't cross the fence ;) ).

So that we may keep the Van Zandt Cottage accessible and safe, we do ask that you observe the following:

--please do not attach anything to the historic building.
--please do not photograph anything using food (i.e. cake smashes) on the porch or near the building (food attracts pests and frosting stains porches)
--please respect the building and grounds and leave them the same or better than you found them (there is a trash can near the street)
--please be aware that we may have programming planned so the building may not always be accessible
--please be aware that there is a bee hive in the large live oak on the west end of the Cottage. Use caution.
--please be aware that some projects continue (i.e. cellar doors, rear porch, etc.) Use caution when accessing the site and avoid active construction areas.

With your cooperation, we'll be able to keep this fantastic photography spot available at no charge. But we do need your help by abiding by these guidelines.

Please share this information with other photographers you know who utilize this site (and/or in any local message boards/groups).

Thanks in advance...we appreciate your support!