Estep-Burleson Building Draw Well
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GT.US
N 31° 11.720 W 098° 43.064
14R E 526891 N 3451284
The draw well in front of the newly renovated Estep-Burleson Building in downtown San Saba TX
Waymark Code: WMPRHA
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 10/13/2015
Views: 6
Created From: [Deleted Waymark] - posted by
Benchmark Blasterz
The Estep-Burleson Building has been has been restored and renovated as the centerpiece of a handsome historic plaza area on the west side of the San Saba County courthouse square. The old well on the southeast corner of the building was dug in the 1870s.
One of the local merchants we spoke with told us the well was bricked over in the 1930s, after it was rendered obsolete by city water service, fell into disrepair, and became a public safety hazard. This stone well was rebuilt in 2013 from historic photographs, and now serves as a charming focal point of the new plaza.
The state historic marker in front of the building reads as follows:
ESTEP-BURLESON BUILDING
Elijah Estep (1828-1901), San Saba County’s second tax assessor-collector, was born in Sangamon County, Illinois. He married Abigail Montgomery (1826-1868), and the couple lived in the community of Cherokee when San Saba County was founded. When Abigail died, Elijah was left to care for 11 children, ages one to 19. Elijah married Jane (Burden) Williams in 1869, the daughter of Nathaniel (1798-1870) and Sarah Burden.
In the early 1870’s, Estep built this two-story building facing the courthouse out of locally quarried, rough-cut hard limestone. Each floor is a single 20 x 16 foot room with hewn beam ceiling joists and pine floor planking. A newer 10-foot square room attaches to the west end. Much later, the structure was mistakenly called “The Burden Hotel,” attributed to Nathaniel Burden from 1857, but records reveal that Burden’s property was on the north of the square and that he died in 1870, the year before his new son-in-law bought this lot for $75.00. The building became a residence and Estep operated a mercantile store on the east end of the same lot.
The Estep family owned it until September of 1890, when prominent central Texas attorney, Leigh Burleson, bought the property for his law office. Later. E.E. Risien and his heirs owned the property for more that 50 years. The building was occasionally an annex to other businesses, but often remained vacant. It even faced deconstruction in the 1990’s before local students helped persuade the William Fritz Family of Fredericksburg to to donate the property to the community. The building was restored to its earliest know appearance from a 1911 photograph, including a gabled wooden front porch and exterior stairs. This symbol of San Saba’s frontier period also reminds us of the value of history fashioned into wood and stone.
Recorded Texas Historic Landmark – 2013"
Visit Instructions:
Please share a self-made picture of the Draw Well and tell us something about it. Did you taste the water? You do not have to be in the picture, neither does your GPSr.