Original or copy? Second Fuchs house marker turns up
Holding a picture of the Conrad Fuchs House historical marker recently discovered behind a bookshelf in the Texas Historical Commission offices in Austin are Polly Krenek, Burnet County Historical Commission Chairman Rachel Bryson, and Terri Burger. Bryson told BCHC members about the find at their regular meeting on Sept. 3. Staff photo by Suzanne Freeman
It wasn’t lost, but now it’s found. Or, maybe it was lost. Either way, it’s been found. The Texas Historical Commission recently discovered historical marker No. 9714 behind a bookcase in its Austin offices. The marker tells the story of the Conrad Fuchs House, a 150-year-old, two-story rock house in Horseshoe Bay that burned in February with an identical marker inside.
“It is not our policy to do duplicate markers,” THC Historical Marker Program historian Alicia Costello told DailyTrib.com. “But we’ve found there’s an exception to every rule.”
The mysterious second marker turned up during a remodel of the THC offices. Costello contacted Burnet County Historical Commission Chairman Rachel Bryson to let her know they had it.
“The Fuchs House marker is one of the first markers approved when the commission became the commission,” Bryson said during BCHC’s regular meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 3.
Established in 1953, the Texas State Historical Survey Committee changed its name to the Texas Historical Commission in 1973, the same year brothers Norman and Wayne Herd applied for the Fuchs House marker. The marker is dated 1974.
Also dated 1974 is a marker granted for O’Henry Hall, 601 Colorado St. in Austin. The connection is that both of these markers have a duplicate, Costello said. They are two of three markers that were duplicated as samples.
“It appears this marker was created as a sample marker to take to trade shows and various other events to promote markers,” Costello said. “We’re not quite sure which is the original and which is the replica.”
The marker found behind the bookcase has four holes in it, indicating it was attached to something, while the marker that burned with the house did not have any holes. That marker was in a closet when the house caught fire on Feb. 25, said Jennifer Raley, who owns the historic home with husband Paul.
According to Jim Jorden, who wrote “A History of the Conrad L. Fuchs Family and the Fuchs House” published in 2020, the historical marker was kept in the house for fear it would be stolen. It was only brought out for events.
A website for The Historical Marker Database has had the Fuchs House marker listed as missing for years. The database is kept up by a volunteer group that self-reports markers online. The group was founded in 2006 by J.J. Prats, who asked DailyTrib.com to please let him know when the marker is once again on display.
“I’m one of those people who has to stop at every marker when I’m traveling,” he said, adding that the markers on his database are carefully vetted. “Not every sign is a historical marker.”
The HMD websit lists 20,000 markers from across the United States.
“Without these permanent markers, history would be lost,” Prats said.
Just like the Conrad Fuchs marker was lost—until it wasn’t.
“The good news is, it’s coming back to Burnet County,” Bryson told the Burnet County Historical Commission.
Plans are underway to loan the marker to The Falls on the Colorado Museum in Marble Falls for a future Fuchs exhibit. The museum also has a millstone, a well cover, and portraits of Anna and Conrad Fuchs, who built their house in 1880. If the museum were to ever close or remove its Fuchs exhibit, the marker would go back to the Texas Historical Commission.
“The markers do not belong to anyone but the State of Texas,” said Bryson of the Burnet County commission. “THC has complete control of all historical markers.”
This one will be preserved for history, even though it was missing (maybe), then burned, and now has turned up (again).