"Joe's Place"
at 1817 Garfield Street

"Joe's Place" has claim to at least three distinctions:

• One, it's a gathering spot for Bastrop's active volunteer and music community.
• Two, it's in "New Addition" neighborhood
• Three, it's a terrific spot for those on the 2009 Holiday Homes Tour to pause, enjoy some entertainment, savor Bastrop's signature hospitality, and rest the "dogs".

Whether for a Rotary Club wine tasting or a Bastrop Education Foundation envelope-stuffing session, homeowner Joe Newman keeps the welcome mat out. This 1986 ranch-style house was originally owned by Gayle Rathman Foster and is located on the northern edge of Bastrop's first subdivision, known formally as the Riverview Heights Addition but more often than not as the "New Addition." This moniker has persisted some 65 years...and after many more subdivisions have encircled Bastrop.

This 43-acre subdivision was chartered January 1, 1943, by the A.C.A. Housing Company—its name drawn from the last name of its principals J.V Ash, Joe Crow, and Bruce Albright. The subdivision was born into a local population boom during the early 1940's, as newly established Camp Swift, north of town, brought thousands of soldiers to Bastrop County and significantly enhanced the civilian job market locally. Camp Swift, activated on May 4, 1942, played an increasingly important role as an infantry training center during World War II and, at its peak, housed 90,000 U.S. servicemen. It also served as a prisoner-of-war camp for 4,000 German prisoners captured in North Africa and at Normandy. Today, Camp Swift is one-fifth of its World War II size and is a training site for the Texas Army National Guard.*

The original streets were named for Presidents—Roosevelt, Garfield and Lincoln—and the subdivision covenant set price restrictions:

"No dwelling costing less than $2500.00 shall be permitted on any lot in the tract. The ground floor area of the main structure, exclusive of one-story open porches and garages, shall not be less than 700 square feet in the case of a one-story structure. No dwelling of one and one-half stories costing less than $4000.00 shall be permitted on any lot in the tract. No dwelling of two stories or more and costing less than $5000.00 shall be permitted on any lot in the tract."

Time has changed that—the price points are quaint in terms of today's building costs—and more: the original covenant also excluded nonwhites from occupying or using any building or lot (with an exception permitted for nonwhite domestic services domiciled with a [white] owner or tenant. While such an exclusion was not unusual for that moment in America's history, it long ago was invalidated. Today, the "New Addition" is a mixed community—racially, ethnically, economically and architecturally, with the modest World War II-era homes interspersed with larger homes of a more recent vintage.

But back in time further, before the "New Addition": the first documented use of this land shows that, from just after 1900 until its development in 1943, the parcel was used to raise mules—important to the local economy and either sold or leased for use by the railroads, for road construction, for farming, and for military use in World War I. And this moment is predated by yet another important connection: the land upon which the "New Addition" stands shares a common heritage with the greater Bastrop area: the land lies within the June 8, 1832 land grant by the Mexican State of Coahuila and Texas to "Citizen Empresario" Stephen F. Austin that opened the door to colonization and eventually to statehood.

But, back to 2009: "Joe's Place"—a relative newcomer to this historic neighborhood—has the welcome mat out and has been decorated to reflect a unique down-home Christmas gathering in which you have a role. Stop by for a cookie or two and say hello to the "girls"—Joe's registered Boxers, Snicker and Doodle. If you're a musician, feel free to play the baby grand, pick up a guitar, banjo or violin and entertain us all. Check out Joe's "toys" as well: Santa's Ultra Classic Harley-Davidson (parked in the living room for this occasion) and the vintage Santa-red Mercedes convertible in the front drive.

For further information about Camp Swift, visit a website prepared by Bastrop Middle School students (www-bms.bastrop.isd.tenet.edu/swift98/intro/intro.html). Information may also be found at www.bastroptexas.net/history/camp_swift.htm
and www.globalsecurity.org/military/facility/camp-swift.htm.