Why We Need
Your Help
Background
Organization
Project Description
Project Plan
Giving Opportunities
Our Supporters |
Background
The city of San Marcos, Texas, was settled in the 1880s, and the town – like many others in Central Texas -- grew steadily, due to its location as a station on the railroad lines that linked San Marcos to Austin, San Antonio, and coastal shipping ports. San Marcos’ early economy was based around agriculture, with cotton being a primary crop in the region and the local cotton gins and mills providing a valuable service to area farmers. As that industry developed, cotton gins began to compress cotton fibers into tightly packed bales that could be shipped efficiently in railroad cars. After leaving the cotton gin, the bales were stored in warehouses while awaiting shipment..
Cheatham Street Warehouse is a typical one-story warehouse building, sited next to the railroad to facilitate the storage and transfer of bales of cotton and cottonseed between wagons or trucks and railway cars. Like many cotton storage buildings of the time, the wood-frame structure was originally covered with galvanized metal to protect it from the fire hazard created by highly combustible cotton-fiber dust. It was built sometime between 1902, when Peter and Elmyra S. Ault commissioned W. S. Hightower to construct the warehouse for $1,000, and 1909, when the mechanic’s lien granted to Hightower was released. The building continued to be used as a cotton warehouse through at least the 1930s.
In June 1974, Kent Finlay and Jim Cunningham leased the building and converted it into the music hall now known as Cheatham Street Warehouse. The nurturing environment for songwriters and musicians that Finlay created then, and still maintains today, has helped to launch the careers of dozens of recording artists, including George Strait, Stevie Ray Vaughan, and Todd Snider. Cheatham Street’s weekly Songwriters Circle continues to provide opportunities for up-and-coming musicians to collaborate with and learn from established, experienced artists.
|
Please Click Here to
Make an Online Donation
|
