Top of page

Notice
In observance of the Federal holiday on Monday, February 16, the Jefferson Building Great Hall and exhibitions will be open from 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. to guests with timed-entry passes. Reading rooms will be closed to researchers.

Photo, Print, Drawing G. H. Cunningham Farmstead, 230 feet southeast of intersection of Curry and Vincent Roads, Waxahachie, Ellis County, TX

[ Photos from Survey HABS TX-3378  ]

More Resources

[ Drawings from Survey HABS TX-3378  ]
[ Data Pages from Survey HABS TX-3378  ]
[ Photo Captions from Survey HABS TX-3378  ]

About this Item

Title

  • G. H. Cunningham Farmstead, 230 feet southeast of intersection of Curry and Vincent Roads, Waxahachie, Ellis County, TX

Names

  • Historic American Buildings Survey, creator
  • Texas National Research Laboratory Commission, Owner
  • Cunningham, George H., Owner
  • Cunningham, B. C.
  • Cunningham, Leta Mae, Owner
  • Hight, G. Howell, Owner
  • Hight, Roger, Owner
  • Hight, Roxana
  • ArchiTexas, contractor
  • Hardy, Heck, Moore, contractor
  • Fowler, Bruce, field team
  • Garmon, Gary, field team
  • Hickox, Gilbert, field team
  • Irsik, Larry, field team
  • King, Craig, field team
  • Martratt, Richard, field team
  • Melde, Craig, field team
  • O'Brien, Jeanie, field team
  • Skotnicki, Gary, field team
  • Solamillo, Stan, field team
  • Van Buren, Diane, field team
  • Moore, David, historian

Created / Published

  • Documentation compiled after 1933

Headings

  • -  farming
  • -  cotton industry
  • -  tenant farming
  • -  surveying
  • -  Texas--Ellis County--Waxahachie

Latitude / Longitude

  • 32.3095921818626,-96.9008061299245

Notes

  • -  Significance: The farmstead includes a grouping of buildings on a 106-acre tract of land in the J.J. Mallard Survey. The complex is associated with George H. Cunningham (1825-1915) who owned vast amounts of land in Ellis and nearby counties during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Like so many pioneers who settled in western Ellis County prior to and immediately after the Civil War, Cunningham originally hailed from Tennessee. He came to Ellis County in 1849 and worked as a land surveyor. He purchased this 106-acre parcel in 1855 from James Jefferson Mallard and established this farm on a prominent and highly visible location that overlooked the surrounding countryside. The one-story frame house nearest to Curry Road reportedly is his original residence. Although he farmed the land with hired help, Cunningham appeared to be more interested in land acquisition and at one time owned more than 3,000 acres in Ellis County. Local informants report that he later built a large house on another tract of land near the J.M. Dunaway House and leased his old homestead to tenant farmers. After Cunningham's death in 1915, a guardian for the estate of B.C. Cunningham (presumed to be Brazillin C., the youngest son of George H. and Tennessee Sims), oversaw the property, but in 1933 Leta Mae Cunningham assumed control. She later married G. Howell Hight, and they continued to lease the property to tenant farmers. After the decline of the local cotton market in the late 1930s and early 1940s, the farmers on this an other farms began to harvest a greater variety of crops as well as raise cattle. The property's significance stems from its associations with one of the most extensive landowners in Ellis County during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and from the age of one of the houses, which is among the oldest extant buildings in the region. Furthermore, the property also reflects the evolution of a mid-nineteenth century family-run farm into an early twentieth century tenant farm.
  • -  Unprocessed Field note material exists for this structure: N1849
  • -  Survey number: HABS TX-3378
  • -  Building/structure dates: ca. 1856 Initial Construction

Medium

  • Photo(s): 6
  • Measured Drawing(s): 3
  • Data Page(s): 12
  • Photo Caption Page(s): 1

Call Number/Physical Location

  • HABS TX-3378

Source Collection

  • Historic American Buildings Survey (Library of Congress)

Repository

Control Number

  • tx0688

Rights Advisory

Online Format

  • image
  • pdf

Rights & Access

The Library of Congress does not own rights to material in its collections. Therefore, it does not license or charge permission fees for use of such material and cannot grant or deny permission to publish or otherwise distribute the material.

Ultimately, it is the researcher's obligation to assess copyright or other use restrictions and obtain permission from third parties when necessary before publishing or otherwise distributing materials found in the Library's collections.

For information about reproducing, publishing, and citing material from this collection, as well as access to the original items, see: Historic American Buildings Survey/Historic American Engineering Record/Historic American Landscape Survey (HABS/HAER/HALS) Collection - Rights and Restrictions Information

  • Rights Advisory: No known restrictions on images made by the U.S. Government; images copied from other sources may be restricted. https://www.loc.gov/rr/print/res/114_habs.html
  • Reproduction Number: ---
  • Call Number: HABS TX-3378
  • Access Advisory: ---

Obtaining Copies

If Digital Images Are Displaying

You can download online images yourself. Alternatively, you can purchase copies of various types through Library of Congress Duplication Services.

HABS/HAER/HALS materials have generally been scanned at high resolution that is suitable for most publication purposes (see Digitizing the Collection for further details about the digital images).

  • Photographs--All photographs are printed from digital files to preserve the fragile originals.
    • Make note of the Call Number and Item Number that appear under the photograph in the multiple-image display (e.g., HAER, NY,52-BRIG,4-2).
    • If possible, include a printout of the photograph.
  • Drawings--All drawings are printed from digital files to preserve the fragile originals.
    • Make note of the Survey Number (e.g., HAER NY - 143) and Sheet Number (e.g., "Sheet 1 of 4"), which appear on the edge of the drawing. (NOTE: These numbers are visible in the Tiff "Reference Image" display.)
    • If possible, include a printout of the drawing.
  • Data Pages
    • Make note of the Call Number in the catalog record.

If Digital Images Are Not Displaying

In the rare case that a digital image for HABS/HAER/HALS documentation is not displaying online, select images for reproduction through one of these methods:

  • Visit the Prints & Photographs Reading Room and request to view the group (general information about service in the reading room is available at: https://www.loc.gov/rr/print/info/001_ref.html). It is best to contact reference staff in advance (see: https://www.loc.gov/rr/print/address.html) to make sure the material is on site. OR
  • P&P reading room staff can provide up to 15 quick copies of items per calendar year (many original items in the holdings are too old or fragile to make such copies, but generally HABS/HAER/HALS materials are in good enough condition to be placed on photocopy machines). For assistance, see our Ask a Librarian page OR
  • Hire a freelance researcher to do further selection for you (a list of researchers in available at: https://www.loc.gov/rr/print/resource/013_pic.html).
  • You can purchase copies of various types, including quick copies, through Library of Congress Duplication Services (price lists, contact information, and order forms for Library of Congress Duplication Services are available on the Duplication Services Web site):
    • Make note of the Call Number listed above.
    • Look at the Medium field above. If it lists more than one item:
      • The entire group can be ordered as photocopies or high-quality copies.
      • All the items in a particular medium (e.g., all drawings, all photographs) can be ordered as photocopies or high-quality copies.

Access to Originals

Please use the following steps to determine whether you need to fill out a call slip in the Prints and Photographs Reading Room to view the original item(s). In some cases, a surrogate (substitute image) is available, often in the form of a digital image, a copy print, or microfilm.

  1. Is the item digitized? (A thumbnail (small) image will be visible on the left.)

    • Yes, the item is digitized. Please use the digital image in preference to requesting the original. All images can be viewed at a large size when you are in any reading room at the Library of Congress. In some cases, only thumbnail (small) images are available when you are outside the Library of Congress because the item is rights restricted or has not been evaluated for rights restrictions.
      As a preservation measure, we generally do not serve an original item when a digital image is available. If you have a compelling reason to see the original, consult with a reference librarian. (Sometimes, the original is simply too fragile to serve. For example, glass and film photographic negatives are particularly subject to damage. They are also easier to see online where they are presented as positive images.)
    • No, the item is not digitized. Please go to #2.
  2. Do the Access Advisory or Call Number fields above indicate that a non-digital surrogate exists, such as microfilm or copy prints?

    • Yes, another surrogate exists. Reference staff can direct you to this surrogate.
    • No, another surrogate does not exist. Please go to #3.
  3. If you do not see a thumbnail image or a reference to another surrogate, please fill out a call slip in the Prints and Photographs Reading Room. In many cases, the originals can be served in a few minutes. Other materials require appointments for later the same day or in the future. Reference staff can advise you in both how to fill out a call slip and when the item can be served.

To contact Reference staff in the Prints and Photographs Reading Room, please use our Ask A Librarian service or call the reading room between 8:30 and 5:00 at 202-707-6394, and Press 3.

Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

Historic American Buildings Survey, Creator, Owner Texas National Research Laboratory Commission, George H Cunningham, B. C Cunningham, Leta Mae Cunningham, G. Howell Hight, Roger Hight, et al. G. H. Cunningham Farmstead, 230 feet southeast of intersection of Curry and Vincent Roads, Waxahachie, Ellis County, TX. Ellis County Waxahachie Texas, 1933. Documentation Compiled After. Photograph. https://www.loc.gov/item/tx0688/.

APA citation style:

Historic American Buildings Survey, C., Texas National Research Laboratory Commission, O., Cunningham, G. H., Cunningham, B. C., Cunningham, L. M., Hight, G. H. [...] Moore, D. (1933) G. H. Cunningham Farmstead, 230 feet southeast of intersection of Curry and Vincent Roads, Waxahachie, Ellis County, TX. Ellis County Waxahachie Texas, 1933. Documentation Compiled After. [Photograph] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/tx0688/.

MLA citation style:

Historic American Buildings Survey, Creator, et al. G. H. Cunningham Farmstead, 230 feet southeast of intersection of Curry and Vincent Roads, Waxahachie, Ellis County, TX. Documentation Compiled After. Photograph. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/tx0688/>.