Blanco Historic District
Also known as: See Also:Conn,Adrian Edwards,House
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Why it's listed
Blanco's historic core spreads across roughly eight blocks around the courthouse square, north of Town Creek in the Texas Hill Country. Forty-six properties make up the district, of which 25 date to 1941 or earlier and retain their character. The centerpiece is the Old Blanco County Courthouse, a two-story Second Empire building of native limestone completed in 1886. It served as the county seat for only four years before voters moved the seat to Johnson City, after which it held a school, bank, offices, medical facilities and other uses. Around it stand mostly one-story commercial buildings, such as the rough limestone Cage Building of 1908 and the Masonic Building of 1907, along with brick buildings of the 1920s and 1930s, houses, a jail, and wool and mohair warehouses tied to the local agricultural economy. Native limestone, used from the 1860s to the 1940s, gives the district visual unity, while later concrete block and cedar-sided buildings interrupt it in places.
Significance in brief: The district is organized around the 1886 Second Empire limestone Old Blanco County Courthouse, with commercial, residential and agricultural buildings tied together by native limestone construction and a gridiron plan. The surviving buildings reflect the town's commercial development and its role in the Hill Country wool and mohair economy. The visible text does not include the full Section 8 statement, so some reasoning is not shown.
Machine-generated summary. This summary was generated by a language model from the official nomination document and has not been reviewed line by line by an editor. It may contain errors. Check the source document before relying on any detail. Source: nomination document (PDF) · National Archives catalog entry. NRHP reference 91000890, listed July 16, 1991. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence medium).
Key facts
| Address | Roughly bounded by Fifth St., Live Oak St., Town Cr. and rear property lines W of Main St., Blanco |
|---|---|
| County | Blanco County |
| Listed | July 16, 1991 |
| Reference number | 91000890 |
| Resource type | District |
| Architectural style | Late Victorian: Second Empire; Late 19th and 20th Century Revival |
| Areas of significance | Commerce, Architecture |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Mixed uses: former courthouse, commercial buildings, city hall, residences. One garage building (BC 8) is described as vacant. |
| Acreage | 20 |
| Coordinates | 29.19470, -98.42666 (NPS GIS) |
What listing means for this property
This is a historic district. Buildings within its boundary are either contributing (they add to the district's significance) or non-contributing. Owners of contributing income-producing buildings can claim the 20% federal rehabilitation tax credit; homeowners should look at state credits. National Register districts impose no design review by themselves; a local historic district ordinance, if one exists, does (the difference explained).
General information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change; confirm with your State Historic Preservation Office or a qualified adviser.
Sources and further reading
- National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places database (snapshot May 2026), reference 91000890.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikidata Q109999574
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.