La Grange’s Faison Home is Fighting for Its Life

Without community intervention, the Faison House will disappear as have many other Texas house museums, including Victoria’s McNamara House. “It’s a simple matter of money and volunteers,” Arnold Romberg, President of the Faison Preservation Society (FPS), explained. Unfortunately, according to the University of Maryland, American life in the twenty-first century is changing in ways that often leave individuals less likely to give or volunteer. When the La Grange Garden Club women saved the house in the 1960s, only 32% of women were in the workforce versus 57% today. Without their devotion and energy, the house would have vanished. Historic preservation funding in Texas is a tough business. Grants are becoming increasingly complex; grant writing courses abound. Numerous grants require nonprofits to match monies and pay for the entire project up front before reimbursement. In other words, you must have money to get money. Unfortunately, grants for mowing the lawn, paying utilities, or purchasing insurance are nonexistent.

Some might question whether the house is worth saving.Texas Parks and Wildlife thought so. When in charge of Kreische Brewery and Monument Hill, the group did a feasibility study and recommended acquiring the house. The residence is named after Nathaniel Faison who was a survivor of the Dawson Massacre and is honored at Monument Hill. The house’s rich African American History and a look at race relations during and after reconstruction earned the structure a place on the National Register of Historic Places at the state level of recognition for its social history. The Texas Historical Commission, however, who now runs Monument Hill, has, at this point, declined to take possession of the historical property.

What can you do to help?

The Faison Preservation Society has established an endowment fund to ensure future operating expenses. The goal is $200,000. Currently the fund is at $119,000. We are asking community members to help us reach our goal. FPS is holding a Save The Faison House Auction Social on Sunday, November 13, 2022, from 3 to 5 p.m. at the Historic Casino Hall, 254 N. Jefferson, La Grange, Texas. Admission is free. Goodwill donations are appreciated. We’re auctioning off fun activities as well as lunch with celebrities. Members of the Faison family will be there to answer questions about their life. Light refreshments will be served.

Donations to the endowment fund can be made online at our website www.faisonhouse.org or via mail at Faison Preservation Society, P.O. Box 681, La Grange, Texas 78945.

The house, at 822 South Jefferson in La Grange is open to the public Saturdays from noon to four and by special request. Admission is free.

If you are interested in volunteering, please contact Marie Watts at marie.watts@faisonhouse. org.