House at 816 West Water
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Approximate location: the National Park Service places this pin arbitrarily within the property, not at a surveyed point (stated accuracy ±12 m).
Why it's listed
This small frame house at 816 West Water in Waxahachie dates to about 1900. It has a two-room plan, drop siding, a gable roof with composition shingles and box eaves, and wood double-hung windows with one-over-one lights. Two single-door entrances open onto a three-bay porch with a shed roof and turned wood posts across the south side. Its massing and plan are typical of late nineteenth-century vernacular houses. The house was listed because of its link to the Waxahachie Textile Mill. When the mill began operating in the early twentieth century, company officials built many simple dwellings for workers, and at one time the mill was almost completely surrounded by this housing. Most of those houses were later razed when a low-income public-housing complex was built on the site. Seven of the old workers' houses survive, and this one is regarded as the best and the least altered. It was recognized for both its architecture and its connection to local industry.
Significance in brief: The house is one of the dwellings built by the Waxahachie Textile Mill for its workers in the early twentieth century. Most of these houses were razed for a public-housing complex. Of the seven that survive, this is described as the best and least altered. The reviewer called it a rare survivor of locally important mill workers' housing with a high degree of integrity.
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 86002480, listed September 24, 1986. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence medium).
Key facts
| Address | 816 W. Water, Waxahachie |
|---|---|
| County | Ellis County |
| Listed | September 24, 1986 |
| Reference number | 86002480 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Architectural style | Vernacular; massing and plan typical of late 19th century vernacular houses |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Industry, Architecture |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Present condition is listed as fair; present use is residential. |
| Acreage | 0.9 |
| Coordinates | 31.94080, -96.86482 (NPS GIS) |
What listing means for this property
National Register listing is honorary for a privately owned home: it does not by itself restrict what an owner may do with their own money, and it does not require public access. Restrictions come from local landmark or historic-district ordinances, which are separate (how they differ).
Owner-occupied houses are not eligible for the 20% federal rehabilitation tax credit, which applies to income-producing buildings, but many states offer credits for homeowners. Listing also opens the door to preservation easements and to buying a plaque. Start with what listing means for homeowners, renovating a listed house and selling one.
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 86002480.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikidata Q110002010
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.