Cityname, TX – A nearly 170-year-old log courthouse in Comanche County, a notorious tavern and dance hall on the Devil’s Backbone, and nine other recipients of the FY2026 Texas Preservation Trust Fund (TPTF) grants have all benefited from this Texas Historical Commission (THC) program that connects endangered historic places with preservation funding.
The TPTF provides smaller, partial matching grants that benefit Texas properties with owner and local support, and prioritize endangered but viable properties, and can include community surveys and non-architectural efforts.
The projects selected for this grant cycle are located across the state and benefit local preservation efforts in three categories —Heritage Education, Historic Resource Survey, and Architecture.
Six projects seeking regular TPTF funds were selected in the Architecture category:
- A stabilization plan for Texas Hall/Old Trinity University (a National Register property that is planned for use by Preservation Texas), Tehuacana
- A variety of rehabilitation activities at the Old Socorro Mission Socorro Mission (Mission Nuestra de la Concepción del Socorro), Socorro
- Drawings for future rehab at Devil’s Backbone Tavern and Dance Hall, Fischer (late 1890s tavern and dance hall with spectacular Hill Country views)
- Full roof replacement at Old Cora Log Courthouse, Comanche (historic county courthouse on current courthouse square)
- Rehabilitate south wall brick for 1886 Leon County Jail, Centerville (located on courthouse square)
- Restore prominent historic windows at the 1904 Carnegie Building (Terrell Heritage Museum) (former Carnegie Library building).
- intensive interior and exterior rehabilitation of 102 N. Cliff St., Dallas (part of the city’s 10th Street historic district
Two projects seeking regular TPTF funds were selected in the Heritage Education category: the Gault School Educational Outreach Project in Florence and the Rosewood Courts Welcome Center Project in Austin. Both projects will create educational outreach to preserve the history and understanding of social services and educational opportunities for marginalized groups in the early 20th century.
Two projects seeking regular TPTF funds were selected in the Historic Resource Survey category: surveys in Socorro and Harlingen. Thorough historic surveys allow communities to create a baseline of knowledge about its historic assets and conditions.
The Texas Legislature created the TPTF in 1989 to allow a stable source of funding to be developed to assist preservation efforts throughout the state. The Texas Historical Commission distributes these funds and selects the final recipient. The TPTF investment earnings are distributed as matching grants to qualified applicants for acquisition, survey, restoration, preservation, planning, and heritage education activities leading to the preservation of historic properties and archeological sites or collections. Competitive grants are awarded on a one-to-one match basis and are paid as reimbursement of eligible expenses incurred. The fund is currently managed by the Texas Treasury Safekeeping Trust Company. For more information, visit thc.texas.gov/tptf .
