Post Oak Preservation Solutions

10/13/2026

HISPANIC HERITAGE IS AMERICAN HERITAGE
🇲🇽 🇵🇷 🇨🇺 🇩🇴 🇬🇹 🇸🇻 🇭🇳 🇳🇮 🇨🇷 🇵🇦 🇨🇴 🇻🇪 🇪🇨 🇵🇪 🇧🇴 🇨🇱 🇵🇾 🇦🇷 🇺🇾 🇪🇸
Hispanic heritage is an essential part of our shared history—in Texas and across the country.

At Post Oak, we believe historic preservation is an opportunity to recognize the people, places, and experiences that have too often been left out of the historical record. That means listening to communities, expanding whose stories are told, and making those stories accessible to more people.

As Hispanic Heritage Month comes to a close this week, we invite you to explore the histories around you, learn whose stories have yet to be told, and help ensure they have a place in our collective memory. Explore. Listen. Learn. Preserve. Not just one month but all year long—help tell the stories that make our shared history whole.

10/09/2026

Megan attended the Preserve Wyoming conference in Casper in September, where she had the opportunity to share about our recent historic preservation work in Laramie! Post Oak was proud to be one of the sponsors of the event as well.

Megan presented alongside Albany County Historic Preservation Board member Gwendolyn Kristy on the successful nomination of the Laramie West Side Historic District, which was recently listed on the National Register of Historic Places for its significant associations with European and Hispanic heritage. She also participated in a “Roundtable Experts” panel, answering questions and sharing insights about historic preservation consulting.

Of course, the conference wasn’t all work! Megan also had the chance to explore Casper, including a walking tour of the downtown historic district (swipe through to see a few of her favorite sights!).

It was a great opportunity to connect with others doing historic preservation work across Wyoming and to share a little of what we’ve been working on in Laramie. Thanks to Alliance for Historic Wyoming for hosting!

Photo 📸 credit: Wyoming Out Loud (slides 1-2).

10/06/2026

Transformation Tuesday | Marconi Wireless/Synanon Tomales Bay Headquarters Historic District

Perched above Tomales Bay in California, this historic property tells a complex story of innovation, community, and a deeply troubling chapter in American history.

Originally established as a Marconi Wireless station, the property later became the headquarters of Synanon, an organization that evolved from a drug rehabilitation program into an authoritarian and increasingly abusive community. Its history includes coercive practices, violence, and serious allegations of abuse, an important part of the site’s story that should not be overlooked.

Our team amended the property’s existing National Register Historic District nomination to recognize Synanon’s historical significance, adding two areas of significance and a new period of significance. We also consulted on the historic tax credit rehabilitation of Synanon-era buildings for hotel use.

Today, the Lodge at Marconi offers a new use for these historic buildings. We particularly appreciate how its interior design embraces the distinctive 1970s aesthetic of the original structures, retaining a tangible connection to the property’s past.

Historic preservation allows us to retain places that tell complicated stories. At Marconi/Synanon, that means recognizing the architectural legacy and historical significance of the property while acknowledging the harm associated with one of its most consequential chapters.

10/05/2026

We are so excited to welcome Kaylee Holland to Post Oak! She will bolster the team in many capacities, mostly on the Historic Tax Credit side, and is based in Texas.

Kaylee is a sixth-gen Texan from San Antonio with long ties to the city. She remembers hearing stories about family members who worked at the original Pearl Brewery and the former San Antonio Light newspaper. She graduated this past year from the University of Texas at Austin’s Historic Preservation Program and spends most of her time between San Antonio and Austin.

Throughout her education and early career, Kaylee’s goal has been to get her hands into as many aspects of the preservation field as possible. Her most memorable experience was interning at the San Antonio Missions National Historical Park and UNESCO site. Since then, she has completed several internships that have allowed her to visit sites across the country. From repointing ruins in Arizona to writing about conservation at Frank Lloyd Wright’s Taliesin in Wisconsin, and performing condition assessments at a Civil War-era national cemetery in Tennessee.

Now, Kaylee is excited to bring those experiences closer to home and help to preserve Texas communities.

In her free time, she enjoys traveling with her fiancé and cleaning headstones in San Antonio with her mom. She also loves making rugs, going to concerts, and catching a movie at the Hyperreal Film Club in Austin.

Welcome, Kaylee! 💚

10/01/2026

Seven years of Post Oak Preservation Solutions!
Since 2019, we’ve had the privilege of working with communities, property owners, and preservation partners across the country to help historic places find new life and tell their stories.
From historic tax credit projects and National Register nominations to design guidelines and historic resource surveys, our work has taken us to new places, introduced us to incredible collaborators, and continually expanded our understanding of what preservation can accomplish.
We’re proud of how far we’ve come, grateful to the clients and partners who have trusted us along the way, and especially thankful for the talented team that makes it all possible.
Here’s to the places and stories still ahead of us!

09/30/2026

JUST LISTED! Ferguson Hall, a dormitory on the Hardin-Simmons University campus, has been officially recognized for its significance to higher education in Abilene, TX. Completed in 1926, Ferguson Hall was designed by prolific Abilene architect David Castle, who designed several other buildings on the Hardin-Simmons Campus. When a lack of funding halted construction in 1924, rancher William Peter Ferguson donated $100,000 in memory of his wife Maude, and the building was named in honor of their family. Originally built as a dormitory for male students, Ferguson Hall provided modern on-campus housing during a period of rapid expansion at the university. It later housed couples and female students, and is currently still in use as a dormitory.

Nominated under the multiple property documentation form (MPDF) Historic and Architectural Resources of Abilene, Texas, the nomination recognizes Ferguson Hall under Criterion A for Education at the local level, highlighting its role in the history of Hardin-Simmons University and the development of Abilene as an educational center.

With much of its historic character intact, Ferguson Hall remains an important example of early 20th-century campus architecture and a tangible connection to generations of students who called it home.

We are excited to be working with Hardin-Simmons on a historic tax credit rehabilitation of Ferguson Hall!

Slides 1 and 2 show historic photos from the 1950s and 1930s (aerial view depicts Ferguson Hall on the far left), and slide 3 shows the building today.

09/22/2026

JUST WRAPPED! We recently completed a historic resources survey of downtown Atchison, Kansas, documenting the historic buildings that shaped the city’s commercial, civic, and industrial development since the 19th century.

Historic resource surveys are often the first step in understanding what makes a place significant. By documenting existing conditions, researching individual properties, and evaluating historic integrity, these projects help communities make informed decisions about preservation and future planning.

We’re especially excited that this project has already led to its next chapter. Based on the survey findings, we are now preparing the National Register nomination for a proposed Downtown Atchison Historic District. We are honored to be working alongside the City of Atchison and the Kansas Historical Society to formally recognize the city’s history and the communities that built it. We can’t wait to share the next phase of this journey.

Slide 1: Amelia Earhart, who was born and raised in Atchison, honored at a homecoming parade down Commercial Street in 1935.
Slide 2: Busy street scene at the intersection of 6th and Commercial, ca. 1950s, and the same street view as it looks today.
Slide 3: The Elks Lodge, constructed in the Prairie Style in 1907 at 609 Kansas Ave., and the lodge as it looks today.

09/15/2026

JUST LISTED! The George Burkhart Culver house is a remarkable 1905 residence in Matagorda, Texas, that has officially been recognized for its architectural and historical significance on the National Register of Historic Places. Commissioned by prominent Matagorda citizen George Burkhart Culver as his primary residence, the home is a modest local example of the Queen Anne style, constructed by builder and contractor Roy Shoultz. The first photo (c. 1910) depicts the Culver family in front of the house a few years after it was completed, and George Culver is pictured on horseback.

Culver played an influential role in the early 20th-century development of Matagorda, with business interests ranging from ranching and real estate to shell dredging. He also championed transportation projects that connected Matagorda to broader markets, including the Cane Belt Railroad, the Gulf Intracoastal Canal, and improvements to county roads. The house itself became a gathering place for many of these efforts, hosting meetings, events, statesmen, and businessmen involved in shaping Matagorda’s future. Slide 2 shows Culver (c. 1930) with a car displaying a tire bears his nickname “Uncle George,” and a boat c. 1913 (possibly Culver’s barge) carrying a group that includes the Culver family, likely traveling to Galveston for a celebratory “boat parade” following the initial opening of the Intracoastal Canal.

Today, the Culver House stands as a tangible reminder of the people, ambition, and vision that helped shape this historic Texas community. The house is owned by the descendants of George Burkhart Culver, making its preservation especially meaningful. We are honored to be working alongside the family on a tax credit rehabilitation of this remarkable historic home, ensuring that its architectural character and legacy can be preserved for generations to come.
Photos are courtesy of Glenn Pinkerton, descendant of Culver.

09/14/2026

09/14/2026