Belvin Street Historic District

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about Belvin Street Historic District in Hays County. Now, some streets earn their names, and some streets have their names handed to them by history. Belvin Street got its name in 1876, named for the Reverend R.

H. Belvin, who had served as president of Coronal Institute from 1870 to 1875. San Marcos itself had been founded back in 1845, and by the time the 1870s rolled around, the town was done roughing it.

It was acquiring better architecture, as the marker puts it, and Belvin Street was about to become the proof. The Reverend's own home went up in 1875, right there at the heart of what would become this district. Then came the O.

T. Brown house in 1878, and the neighborhood kept building. The houses of J.

S. Davis and S. R.

Kone, Jr. went up in 1886. Mrs. A.

J. Wood's home followed in 1888. Then 1889 brought three in a row: the homes of J.

F. McGehee, H. G.

Talmadge, and E. L. Thomas.

The J. L. Malone house in 1891.

The Joe Earnest house in 1892. And the G. T.

McGehee house in 1895. One after another, decade by decade, this street filled in like a slow, deliberate argument that San Marcos intended to stay. And it didn't stop there.

The early 1900s added their own distinctive houses to the mix. By 1976, every last one of these structures was still standing, still telling the story. Some streets are just streets.

Belvin Street is a timeline you can walk.

What the marker says

This street was named in 1876 for the Rev. R. H. Belvin, president of Coronal Institute, 1870-1875. San Marcos, founded in 1845, was acquiring better architecture by the 1870s. This district now (1976) retains historic structures: the Belvin home, built 1875; the O. T. Brown house, 1878; the houses of J. S. Davis and S. R. Kone, Jr., built 1886; Mrs. A. J. Wood's home, 1888; the homes of J. F. McGehee, H. G. Talmadge and E. L. Thomas, 1889; the J. L. Malone house, 1891; the Joe Earnest house, 1892; the G. T. McGehee house, 1895. Also in this district are distinctive houses of the early 1900s.