Sebastopol House Historic Site facts for kids
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Sebastopol
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Sebastopol House Historic Site in 2008
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 Sebastopol
Location in Texas
Sebastopol
Location in the United States
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| Location | 704 Zorn Street, Seguin, Texas, USA |
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| Area | 2.2 acres (0.89 ha) |
| Built | 1850 |
| Architect | Henry Erkel, et al. |
| Architectural style | Greek Revival |
| NRHP reference No. | 70000751 |
Quick facts for kids Significant dates |
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| Added to NRHP | August 25, 1970 |
The Sebastopol House Historic Site is a very old house in Seguin, Texas, United States. It was built between 1854 and 1856, a time known as the antebellum period, which means "before the American Civil War." This house is special because it was made almost entirely out of concrete!
Joshua W. Young built Sebastopol House for his sister, Catherine LeGette. Today, it's one of about 20 buildings in Seguin that show how homes were built in the early 1800s. Seguin has more of these old structures than almost anywhere else in the U.S.
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Why Sebastopol House Is Special
Sebastopol House is famous for its unique way of being built. It's made of limecrete, a type of concrete. This house is one of the oldest and largest buildings in Texas that used this special construction method.
Because of its unusual concrete design, Sebastopol House has been recognized as an important historical place:
- In 1936, it was studied by the Historic American Buildings Survey.
- In 1964, it became a Registered Texas Historical Landmark.
- On August 25, 1970, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places.
How Limecrete Was Made
The special concrete method used for Sebastopol House was created by a doctor and chemist named John Park. He moved to Seguin in 1846. Soon, other builders like Joshua Young started using his ideas too.
Building with limecrete was hard work. Workers used wooden boards to create forms, like molds, for the walls. These forms were kept 12 to 18 inches wide. The limecrete mixture was poured into these forms and allowed to harden. Then, the forms were moved up, and the process was repeated, building the walls foot by foot.
A big part of the "Park's concrete" mix was a material called caliche. This is a thick, gravelly clay found under the ground in Seguin. Often, the caliche was dug up right where the house was being built, which also helped create a basement. The caliche was then mixed with sand, lime (made from nearby limestone), and natural materials like straw or horsehair. The outside walls were usually painted white, and the inside often had beautiful wood details made from local walnut, oak, or pecan trees.
History of Ownership
After being built, the house stayed with the LeGette family for some years.
The Zorn Family
In 1874, Joseph Zorn, Jr. bought Sebastopol House. It remained in the Zorn family until 1961. Joseph Zorn, Jr. was an important person in Seguin. He was the mayor of Seguin from 1890 to 1910. During his time as mayor, he helped start the first system of free public schools in the town.
Becoming a Historic Site
The Seguin Conservation Society worked to protect Sebastopol House. In 1976, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department bought the house and its land from the society. The state agency then worked to get funds to restore the house.
Sebastopol House was opened to the public again in September 1989. It has been restored to look like it did in the 1880s. In 2011, the ownership of Sebastopol House was transferred to the City of Seguin, which now manages it.
