Photos courtesy of Wylie Historical Society & Jon Lewis.
By Deonna Osborn
Birmingham Family Legacy Continues to Support Education, Preserve Wylie History
T
he Birmingham family has been a staple of Wylie culture and a cornerstone of its history since the city’s original settlement. Thomas Franklin (Frank) Birmingham helped found the Wylie Independent School District in 1901. In October of 1911, tragedy struck Frank and Hattie Birmingham as their son passed away from typhoid fever. In his honor, Frank and Hattie founded the Franklin Ovid Birmingham Memorial Land Trust (Birmingham Trust,) conveying seven tracts of land totaling around 738 acres. All monies are directed toward Wylie ISD to enhance existing programs such as Manual Training and Domestic Economy (1940 Trust.) In 1937, they purchased land and donated it for a manual trades building. In 1948, the Birminghams donated $100,000 to build a new high school that would later bear Frank Birmingham’s name. That school was located on South Birmingham Street and is now a portion of the property housing R.F. Hartman Elementary School. A few years later, Frank and Hattie donated an additional two tracts of land totaling 168 acres to the Birmingham Trust for the creation of a second trust (1950 Trust) aimed at enhancing existing programs in the areas of Advanced American History and Advanced Chemistry. The Birminghams had two other children: Edward Louis Birmingham (1893-1911) and Marjorie Elsie
66 ||
Birmingham (1896-1921). They were known among friends and family as Louis and Elsie. Interestingly, all three Birmingham children went by their middle names. Three homes in the heart of historic downtown Wylie have been owned by the Birmingham Trust, and each carries its own journey and its own storyline. The renovation of all three has allowed for preservation of the original integrity of the homes while encouraging thriving business to be conducted within the century-old walls and throughout the constantly evolving downtown Wylie. The three houses were purchased by the Trust at various times from January 1989 to January 2002. The largest of the homes was the first to undergo a major facelift. Located at 301 N. Ballard, it is a Queen Anne Victorian-style home located on three lots. Thomas Brown, another community pioneer, secured this homesite in 1888 along with approximately 31 additional acres as a homestead for himself and his future bride, Martha (Mattie) J. Housewright. The ornate and intricately original home boasts six rooms downstairs and one large room upstairs, highlighted with a variety of materials and an unusually asymmetrical floorplan and roof pitch. Mr. Brown passed away a mere two years following completion of the home, but Mrs. Brown continued living there until her passing in 1922. When renovations began in the
March/April2022 2022 | | March/April
CONN MA22 20-PAGE-GUTS.indd 6
2/25/22 12:45 PM
