On The Move

There seems to be a rash of house moving these days! The National Register listed Ellis House on Pine Street in South Dallas is looking for a new site. At press time, an early house on Boll Street in the Vinyard and one on Cedar Springs are still in need of saviors to relocate them. We receive many calls regarding threatened houses in need of relocation and try to respond to as many as possible. What are the pros and cons of relocating?

First, moving houses is not a new occurrence. As early as the 1840s, the Galveston Daily News reported the relocation of houses in one of Texas' oldest cities. Ellen Beasley, an architectural historian from Houston, believes that many houses were moved in Galveston because some residents owned a house but not a city lot. Maybe that was an early day "mobile home". She also reports that a wood block engraving represented a house move in Philadelphia as early as 1799. So, moving buildings is not new to Dallas or to the 21st century.

Second, relocation of a property should be seen as the last opportunity for preservation. Most preservationists believe that every effort is made to retain a property on its original site, then relocated preferably only to demolition. National Register listed properties generally lose their status if relocated to a new site without prior approval from the National Park Service. Some properties to retain their status, but that is rare. A good rule of thumb is to relocate to a similar site with similar orientation.

the Ellis House on Pine Street

The Ellis House in South Dallas is an example of the issues involved in house moving. Its history is associated closely with the neighborhood. Though on the city's substandard housing list, a rehabilitated Ellis House would make a difference in the revitalization of the neighborhood, more so than a vacant lot. However, to complicate matters, the costs for rehabiliating the house would not be recoverable in its current location. It simply may boil down to economics.

House moving recently received its ultimate respect with the new House Moving Museum that recently opened in Saginaw, Texas. The museum shows many images of historic houses being moved, and is an interesting tribute to an old form of historic preservation. If you make your way to Saginaw, be sure to also stop at the nearby McDonald's to check out the 18th century wood paneling in the lobby, another form of preservation that is a little out of the ordinary.

W. Dwayne Jones,
Executive Director