Weed House 4th Street: from Victorian Gothic to Colonial Revival to parking lot.

April 24, 2022 · JRG

The residence of Valentine O. Weed (300 E. 4th Street), location of the murder of Mary Ramey. Earliest photo circa 1900, later re-modeled in the colonial revival style circa 1940, and finally demolished, as a parking lot 1997.

weed house 1900

PICH 00103 Austin History Center.

PICH 02612 Austin History Center.

4th street 1997

300 East 4th Street. 1997.

I took the photo of the location in 1997. For some reason I thought I could wander around the locations of the murders and find…I don’t know what. If I had realized the remnants of the original retaining wall were there I would have taken a brick as a souvenir.

A hotel is currently located on the site.

Theft of Governor's Pants - March Mischief - Police Calls

"Officer Sendry reports that someone entered Gov. Ireland's room last night and stole a pair of pants and one dollar in the pockets." -- 17 MAR 1885. Austin Police Calls. Gov. John Ireland The above incident is the perfect metaphor for…

History Detectives Special Investigations

Last year I had the pleasure of working with the staff from PBS's History Detectives for the upcoming History Detectives Special Investigations: Texas Servant Girl Murders. The cast and crew came to Austin last summer; they did a number of…

Mystery Train to Austin

One-time Austinite Steven Saylor tells the story of the Servant Girl Murders through the eyes of one-time Austinite O. Henry in the novel A Twist At The End. You think you know people, but you don’t. A Twist at The…

The Austin Axe Man -- Chloroform

Once there was a killer in nearby Austin who was still at large. He had chloroformed his victim (rather humanely, I thought) before chopping her head off with an axe. Fear that ‘dat debblish axe-man’ might strike again, in only…

Saving Austin's History

Saving Austin's History A short film by Alpheus Media. ______________________________

Finding Eula - Oakwood Cemetery

I've often been asked if I know where Eula Phillips is buried and my answer has always been that I don’t know the exact location, just that she was buried in an unmarked grave in the oldest section of Oakwood…