Saved: Stagecoach Inn
Located in Round Rock, Texas, near the Chisholm Trail, the Stagecoach Inn was built between 1848 and 1853 using hand-cut stone quarried on the hill where the inn stands. It remains one of the three oldest buildings in the city of Round Rock, about 20 miles north of Austin. Stagecoach drivers and passengers used the inn as a way stop and horse-changing station until 1876, when the arrival of the railroad in Round Rock rendered stagecoach travel obsolete. The structure then served as a private house. More recently, it contained a series of restaurants. The inn had previously received local and statewide historic designations, but the latter was revoked in 1996 following alterations to the roof and windows. The structure now lies directly in the path of a planned road expansion. In March of 2016, the city applied for a permit to dismantle the building and use the materials in another historical context, but the municipal Historic Preservation Commission denied the motion. Following a city-funded relocation feasibility study conducted by architecture firm Architexas, Round Rock approved $98,300 for the relocation of the inn to an area near Chisholm Trail Crossing Park. The estimated total relocation cost is $630,000. The nonprofit Round Rock Preservation is raising funds for the building’s restoration, and the city is hoping for in-kind donations of labor and materials. As of press time, the city expected to move the structure this spring.
