View source for McKinney Homestead

{{short description|Historic house in Texas, United States}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2025}}

{{Infobox nrhp
| name         = McKinney Homestead
| image        = McKinney homestead ruins 2007.jpg
| caption      = The ruins of the McKinney Homestead in 2007.
| location     = SW of Austin between TX 71 and U.S. 183
| nearest_city = [[Austin, Texas]], [[United States|USA]]
| coordinates  = {{coord|30|11|23|N|97|43|14|W|display=inline,title}}
| built        = 1850s
| added        = October 16, 1974
| refnum       = 74002093
}}
The '''McKinney Homestead''' is a former [[limestone]] home built between 1850 and 1852 by [[Thomas F. McKinney]], owner of the surrounding land. The two-story homestead was continuously occupied until it burned in the 1940s.

Archaeological investigations in 1974 determined the house was built with limestone [[quarried]] from [[Onion Creek (Texas)|Onion Creek]]. The [[Framing (construction)|framing]] [[lumber]] was [[Taxodium distichum|cypress]] and [[Juniperus ashei|cedar]], both abundant on McKinney's land. The same wood was used for the [[door]]s, [[window|window frames]] and [[roof]] [[Shake (shingle)|shakes]]. The house was approximately twenty foot by forty foot and had two stories. There were three rooms on each floor and a covered [[porch]] both upstairs and downstairs.<ref>Margaret Swett Henson. ''McKinney Falls'', Texas State Historical Association, 1999, p24.</ref>

Most of McKinney's land and the house were sold to James W. Smith in 1885, Smith's grandchildren granted {{convert|682|acre|km2}} to the state of Texas in 1974. It opened as [[McKinney Falls State Park]] in 1976. The former homestead was added to the [[National Register of Historic Places]] in 1974. It has since been stabilized to prevent further deterioration of the stone structure. The ruins can be accessed via the park's designated "Homestead Trail."<ref>[http://www.austinexplorer.com/Hiking/HikeDetail.asp?HikeID=42 McKinney Falls – Homestead Trail<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Austin}}
{{National Register of Historic Places in Austin, Texas}}

[[Category:Houses in Austin, Texas]]
[[Category:Ruins on the National Register of Historic Places]]
[[Category:National Register of Historic Places in Austin, Texas]]
[[Category:Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Texas]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures completed in the 1850s]]
[[Category:Burned houses in the United States]]


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