Burnet square’s black-and-white past reimagined in vibrant paintings
Burnet County Court at Law Judge Cody Henson and artist Ronda Hostetter hold a black-and-white parade photo taken on the Burnet square in 1950. The photo inspired a more historically accurate depiction of a parade for the painting of 1900s Burnet that hangs behind them. The soldiers are marching in front of Henson’s building, Courthouse Square, at the corner of Pierce and Jackson streets. The family watching the parade (center) represents Henson and his family. The painting now hangs in the conference room of the building in the far-left corner of the painting. Staff photo by Suzanne Freeman
Recreating on canvas all four sides of the courthouse square in Burnet, circa 1900, took months of research and collaboration. Artist Ronda Hostetter took inspiration from old black-and-white photos, newspaper articles, and the stories of longtime residents to produce a set of impressionist paintings of the city’s downtown.
All seven of the Project 1900 paintings will soon hang in the conference room of a building called Courthouse Square at the corner of Jackson and Pierce streets. An open house to view the finished paintings is expected in the fall.
Burnet County Court at Law Judge Cody Henson, who owns the building, commissioned the artwork last fall as he finished renovations on what was once First State Bank of Burnet.
“It turned out to be a rather in-depth project,” he said. “There are no pictures that capture an entire side of the square from around that time. All we found were a few photos of the corners.”
With the help of genealogists at the Herman Brown Free Library, Hostetter built a file of images and writings. She also spoke to lifelong residents, like her friend Mary Ellen Fariss,who was a key source.
“We’ve known each other since we were kids,” said Hostetter, adding that her own family roots in Burnet date to 1853. “She was instrumental in helping with the information.”
The collaborations helped Hostetter fill in some blanks in her depictions of fin de siècle Burnet. Her creative license did the rest, all based on research. In one example, Fariss showed Hostetter a 1950 black-and-white photo of a downtown parade, which inspired Henson to suggest adding a parade to one of the paintings.
Hostetter pointed to the women marching in Fariss’ photo, noting that, in 1900, they would not have been allowed in parade ranks. Instead, she painted a regiment of U.S. military men marching from east to west along Jackson Street in front of Henson’s building. Watching the parade is a family of four. The artist based the figures on Henson, wife Dr. Susan Henson, and their three school-age children.
While Hostetter’s family has a long history in Burnet, the Hensons are relative newcomers, having moved to the community in 2011 after years of visiting on vacations and holidays. Henson’s avid interest in local history was sparked by the remodeling of his downtown properties.
“When you remodel, you find evidence of what used to be,” he said. “We found things scratched in the wall in the late 1800s. We found an old grocery store sign used as siding in this building (Courthouse Square).”
The corner of Jackson and Pierce streets has been home to a variety of businesses, including a hotel, grocery store, meat market, and bank. Currently, it’s rented office space with businesses sharing the conference room/art gallery.
When commissioning Hostetter’s talents, Henson asked her to add the word “Burnet” somewhere in each work of art. She also painted the words “Courthouse Square” on the one-time bank building in the Jackson Street painting, linking the past to the future.
Henson asked Hostetter to use color rather than black and white, which called for even more artistic license.
The artist said she stayed as true to the actual buildings and businesses as possible based on her research, while also having fun leaving clues as to time and place. Her research uncovered a plethora of small businesses common to the area in the late 1800s and early 1900s.
“I found a dressmaker, tailor, several hotels, a bank, a billiard hall, saloons, and a lot of hardware stores,” Hostetter said. “There were even a few homes on the square, especially along Washington Street.”
Each side of the square presents a different perspective of life in Burnet. The Washington Street painting includes more landscape than the others, with Burnet Presbyterian Church a few blocks off of the square in the background. The church is celebrating its 150th birthday in August.
“The Presbyterian church shows up in a lot of the different photos of the square,” Hostetter said. “It has historic significance, so I wanted to include it. The rest of the stuff (in the background) around the church I made up.”
Another important landmark, an old water tower that burned, was also painted into one of the large, horizontal street portraits, although not in its original location. The tower is a nostalgic touch of historic significance that reflects the story of Burnet, Hostetter said.
Along with the four sides of the square, Hostetter created separate paintings of the History Plaza Clock at the courthouse (erected in 2007) and the Old Burnet County Jail (1884), now a visitors center and museum at the corner of Washington and Jackson streets.
The final painting depicts the 1875 Burnet County Courthouse, which was built of limestone to replace a one-story, wood-framed building that burned the previous year. The limestone courthouse fell into disrepair and was replaced in 1937 by the current pink granite building, a project of the Public Works Administration under President Franklin Roosevelt. The courthouse painting should be complete and ready to hang by the end of August.
“I have never done anything on this scale before in both history and size,” Hostetter said. “I’ve painted some landmarks, but not on this scale, certainly not this size or reflective of a period.”
Hostetter is the current president of the Highland Arts Guild and Gallery in Marble Falls and has been painting for about 10 years.
“I became more serious about it when I retired about seven years ago,” she said. “This project was fun for me. I have a lot of history here, too.”
The artist credited two longtime friends, local artists Donna Bland and Dianna Goble, with moral and artistic support. Goble helped with the courthouse and clock, while Bland worked with Hostetter to pull together the bigger images. Both provided inspiration.
“They were instrumental in getting Project 1900 to completion,” Hostetter said.
Like the actual town square, the paintings of downtown Burnet became a hub of industry, production, and community, drawing together elements of the past and present.
“Town squares are where business has always been conducted,” Judge Henson said.
And where parades are held, friends and family meet to shop, eat, and drink, hear live music at festivals, and peer into the sky as the moon blacks out the sun in a rare total eclipse.
On today’s Burnet Courthouse Square, visitors can also pay their property taxes (or a fine), make a bank deposit, meet with the county judge, check out a book, or research their personal history. Or, they can visualize the past with a visit to any number of historic settings, including the old jail, courthouse, and Hostetter’s impressionist paintings when they become available for public viewing.