Austin’s historical mosaic got a little brighter with the recent premiere of the short documentaryHaskell House and the Story of Clarksville, hitting YouTube for public consumptation, courtesy of theAustin Parks and Recreation Department (PARD). The film, which debuted on a modest Saturday at the Boyd Vance Theater, digs into the backstory of one of the city’s foundational structures and the familial lineage rooted within its walls the Haskell House.
Built roundabout 1875 by Peter Tucker, himself a former slave, and his better half, Betty, the Haskell House plants itself firmly in the city’s narrative as the oldest stone in Clarksville’s mosaic standing sentinel on 1703 Waterston Avenue. Sold shortly after its completion to Edwin and Mary Smith, the abode became the site of early Sweet Home Missionary Baptist Church services while the community clenched its financial belt tight.
The buffer between then and now, Mary was one of the church’s founders, a candle in the dark for local followers who lacked the cash for their own hallowed halls. Clarksville itself is a page out of history, being one of the inaugural freedom colonies to take root west of the Mississippi after the Civil War a fact that’s not merely local lore, but verified by its spot on the National Register of Historic Places, alongside State of Texas and City of Austin Historic Landmarks certifications.
Fast-forwarding the clock, the house passed from the hands of the Smiths to their daughter and son-in-law, Catherine and Hezikiah Haskell. They filled its rooms with the echoes of family life; echoes that only faded when their son, Hezikiah Jr., passed in 1976. Following the somber notes of his death, the Haskell family turned philanthropic, gifting their piece of Clarksville to thecity of Austin.
Cut to today, the Haskell House is now puppeteered by the Clarksville Community Development Corporation (CCDC) through an agreement with the city’s Parks and Recreation Department. Clarksville s crayons the residents and their stories are displayed like prized artwork within the walls turned museum, offering a groomed garden of history and community space for current generations to meet. It’s a transformation funded in part by the City of Austin s Historic Preservation Fund, a kitty boosted by regulations in 2018 and fattened by the Hotel Occupancy Tax.
The abovementioned film is a lens on history, made accessiblehere, for both tourists and locals to peer through, ensuring the tales and bricks of old Austin aren’t just whispers in the wind.
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