Hugh B. Hancock House

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and here's how I'm gonna tell it to you. Way back in 1886, somebody built a house on 7th Street in the Robertson Hill area of east Austin. Not just anybody's house, either.

This was constructed for Hugh B. Hancock, a successful Black businessman of the city. Victorian style, classical ornamentation, the whole affair.

The kind of house that says something about the man who had it built. Now, the marker doesn't elaborate on Hancock's business dealings, and I'm not going to fill in what it doesn't say. What it does say is enough.

A successful Black businessman in Austin in 1886 built himself a fine Victorian house, and that house stood. In 1904, the house was sold to Charles Frederick Mann, a German native and a local railroad engineer. Mann kept it in his family for a good long stretch, all the way until 1959.

That's a lot of railroad mornings and family suppers under that Victorian roof. Then 1959 comes, and the family connection ends. The house passes on.

But here's the thing about a well-built house. It has a way of survivin' what would finish lesser structures. In 1979, this residence was moved to a new location entirely.

Picked up, carried, and set back down. And in 1981, it was designated a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark. From 7th Street to a new address, from Hugh B.

Hancock to Charles Frederick Mann and his family across the decades. That house has been a lot of things to a lot of people. And it's still standing.

What the marker says

Built in 1886, this house was originally located on 7th street in the Robertson Hill area of east Austin. It was constructed for Hugh B. Hancock, a successful black businessman of the city. In 1904 it was sold to german native Charles Frederick Mann, a local railroad engineer, and it remained in his family until 1959. Built in the Victorian style with classical ornamentation, the residence was moved to this location in 1979. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1981