Nash Farm to expand with 'new' buildings from the 1890s and 1930s

Nash Farm will be getting some important additions, possibly before the end of the year, when the city moves two historic buildings to the property.

The additions to the city's tribute to its agricultural heritage will provide a new entryway to the 5.2-acre property. It also would provide room for educational presentations, according to David Klempin, the city's historic preservation officer.

With those two structures in place and a proposed wrought-iron perimeter fence around the property, Klempin said Nash Farm could host more programs and events.

Other changes could include the hiring of a farm manager.

The last remnant of the historic farm, which Thomas Nash started in 1859 eventually growing to about 640 acres, was bought by the Grapevine Heritage Foundation in 1997 and dedicated in 2008 after it was restored.

Besides the house, the farmstead includes an original barn, a modern barn, a reproduced chicken coop and smokehouse and areas for crops and an orchard.

The complex is dedicated to providing educational experiences, according to Curtis Ratliff, foundation chairman.

Ratliff said having an entry point is important for the farm, which is surrounded by Ball and College streets, and Homestead Lane.

"In order to have programs in the future, we will need to control the access," he said, adding that he is opposed to changing to a system that would require paid access everyday.

"The plan is to have [the farm] open to the public five days a week," Klempin said.

The most noticeable building to be moved to the farm will be the Estill Cottage.

The Estill family was prominent in the Grapevine area for many generations as builders. Klempin said there is speculation, though unconfirmed, that the Estills' built the Nash Farm house. Though it does not look like it now, the small, 732-square-foot Estill Cottage is a smaller, one-story version of the original farm house. Klempin refers to the cottage as "a petite Nash house."

The cottage is estimated to have been built in the 1890s, he said.

"We will be saving a building that is period appropriate" for the farm, Klempin said.

Originally, the cottage sat where Grapevine Lake is now, but was moved closer to town to 708 E. Worth St. Additions were added over decades.

Joseph Teakell, the owner, was planning to tear it down until Klempin realized its historical value. Teakell offered to donate the house to the city, provided it was moved.

Plans are to place the cottage, stripped of its additions, at the corner of Ball Street and Homestead Lane, the southeast corner of Nash Farm, Klempin said.

After the fence is constructed, visitors will enter the farm property by going through the cottage. The property currently has limited fencing.

The cottage also could have a small gift shop and possibly an historical display, he said.

Ratliff said the building "would give a focal point for people to enter and exit" the farm complex.

The other building is not as old as the cottage, but still has a close tie to the area's agricultural past, Klempin said. The building housed the Soil Conservation Office when that office was at 600 S. Main St.

During the 1920s and 1930s, Ratliff said, Texas and much of the mid-portion of the country were in a severe, prolonged drought, an area often called the Dust Bowl.

The federal Soil Conservation Service set up centers in many farming communities "to teach farmers how to better manage their planting methods."

For Klempin, although the building, which he called a "non-contributing structure," does not fit the pre-World War I era of the Nash Farm, its educational nature fits with the farm's missionto educate the public.

"It still is able to tell a story," he said.

Like the cottage, the office was moved and now sits at 409 E. Hudgins St.

It also had additions tacked onto it, which will be stripped away to reveal the original 760-square-foot building. The city has owned the building for some time.

It will be placed in the back of the farm among trees and possibly painted brown to help it blend in.

"It will be oriented to not interfere with the historical nature of the Nash buildings," Klempin said.

The office can be used as a classroom setting for groups visiting the farm, he said. That will free up space in the Nash farm house for historical exhibits.