Dignan-Mickey House ❖ 1910

Address: 1504 West Avenue

Historic Designation: City of Austin Historic Landmark (1981)

The property originally belonged to Charles L. Mann, who purchased it from the State of Texas in December 1850. He sold it in 1851, and after a series of hands, it was sold to W. George Browne in 1863. W.G. and Julia Ann Browne sold the property to Frank Brown on November 1, 1870.

This house was built circa 1889 for Effie W. Dignan, widow of J.F. Dignan. She was the daughter of Frank Brown (1832-1913), who lived next door and from whom she purchased the land on December 15, 1888 (see Frank Brown House). The following March, Effie took a mechanics lien with carpenter and builder Henry Loughrey for the construction of this late Victorian frame house with a wrap-around porch. She lived here for a time with her sister and her sister’s husband, Henry Hutchings, proprietor of Hutchings Printing House on Congress Avenue, before the Hutchings built a house next door.

Brown’s wife and Effie’s mother, Georgiana McLemore Brown, died in 1897. Both Frank and Effie sold their property in October of 1900 to Louisa Caswell, wife of D.H. Caswell, who sold it in 1908.