Preserving History in San Marcos’ Dunbar Neighborhood

By Lou Wharton

Blog Content Contributor

On July 8, 2023, the city of San Marcos announced that they were in the process of getting the Dunbar Historic District and the Dunbar School Home Economics Building registered with the National Register of Historic Places. The National Register of Historic Places is a program that works to support public and private efforts to protect historical locations in the United States. By getting the Dunbar Historic District and the Dunbar School Home Economics Building registered, the city is one step closer to preserving the history of San Marcos.

Currently, in San Marcos, there are seven locally designated historical districts, including Belvin Street, San Antonio Street, Downtown, Dunbar, Lindsey-Rogers, Burleson Street, and Hopkins Street. However, only one of them – the Downtown District – is on the National Register of Historic Places.

So, why is it so important to get the Dunbar Historic District registered? In order to understand that we’ll have to recognize why the Dunbar Historic District is such a vital part of the history of San Marcos.

The Dunbar Historic District is a historically African-American neighborhood. After the Civil War, formerly enslaved people in the surrounding counties moved to San Marcos. Their move to the city was supported by the arrival of the railroad in the 1880s. Many of these people settled into what was later known as the ‘Dunbar Neighborhood’, an area southwest of the courthouse square. The Dunbar Neighborhood was home to a Freedmen’s Bureau school – dedicated to educating and providing resources for formerly enslaved people – and later the home of the First Baptist Church, built in 1908.

Currently, the Dunbar Historic District is home to the Calaboose African American History Museum. The museum is built in a former jail, originally built in 1873 to house black prisoners after the second Hays County jail was built in 1884. After being recognized as a Texas Historic Landmark in 1990, Calaboose was used as a USO facility for black soldiers during WWII, and in 1997, San Marcos City Council approved the plan to transition it to a museum. Today, the Calaboose African American History Museum is home to a multitude of artifacts and records tracing back local African American history.

Similarly, the Dunbar School Home Economics Building is an important landmark. This building was a part of the Dunbar School, the first public school for black children in the area, which was founded in 1877 and later moved to its current site in 1918. It received its name – the Dunbar School – in 1961, being named after black author Paul Lawrence Dunbar. The Dunbar School Home Economics Building is particularly important because it is the only remaining building of the Dunbar School, after a fire destroyed the other buildings in 1986.

The Dunbar Historic District is no stranger to disaster, unfortunately. The Dunbar Neighborhood is notably close to Purgatory Creek, and previously suffered from flooding. Additionally, redevelopment efforts during the 1900s led to the loss of much of the history of the neighborhood.

By getting the Dunbar Historic District and the Dunbar School Home Economics Building registered with the National Register of Historic Places, the city of San Marcos will be given support to preserve the neighborhood in the future. Specifically, getting a location designated with the National Register of Historic Places provides the city access to grant funding, and provides the city with formal recognition and memorialization of local history.

Preserving the Dunbar Historic District and the Dunbar School Home Economics Building should be of the utmost importance to the city of San Marcos. As San Marcos continues to grow and develop, it becomes even more important that we remember where we started.