Belford homes spotlighted in Preservation Georgetown Home Tour
The work of C.S. Belford, a man who shaped the neighborhoods — and look — of early Georgetown, will be featured in this year’s Preservation Georgetown Home Tour, which runs December 13-14.
Charles S. Belford was a builder, businessman and designer. His work stands proudly in Old Town more than 100 years after his drawings became homes and early buildings at Southwestern University.
His business — the Belford Lumber Company — provided the skeletons for them all. His vision became the look treasured today in Georgetown’s historic district.
In total, dozens of homes in Old Town and specifically, the Belford Historic District, are identified as Belford structures, according to Megan Firestone, head of distinctive collections and archives at Southwestern University. The department is housed at SU’s A. Frank Smith Library.
SU is the caretaker of Mr. Belford’s belongings such as handwritten business ledgers and documents, and the collection also includes his ornate — and very large — toolbox filled with his builder’s tools.
Primarily, though, SU preserves Mr. Belford’s legacy and importance to the growing Georgetown of 100+ years ago.
“As the county seat with offices and courts here — and with Southwestern University too — Georgetown was the predominant town in Williamson County,” Ms. Firestone explained. “Its population was growing and housing was needed.”
Mr. Belford’s road to Georgetown began in Newark, Ohio, where he was born in 1857. A young man looking westward, he left home for New Mexico in 1880 where he worked as a carpenter. By 1882, he was in Texas, and Ms. Firestone has a conjecture he might have worked on the Texas Capitol building under construction in Austin at that time.
By 1884, he was in Georgetown, working at a local lumberyard which he later purchased in 1891. The Belford Lumberyard, encompassing an entire city block west of downtown Georgetown, was a bustling business supplying material for a growing town.
In 1889, Mr. Belford built the Ladies Annex at Southwestern University, the first structure on campus.
The annex was a combination dormitory and classroom building in which female students — except for chaperoned social events — lived a gender-segregated college experience. The building served SU until it was destroyed in a fire in 1925.
Mr. Belford also built SU’s Mood-Bridwell Hall for $58,000 in 1906. SU’s oldest still-in-use building, originally a men’s dormitory, is now a classroom building. It recently underwent a substantial renovation, and reopened earlier this year.
And then there were the houses — 76 in all, Ms. Firestone estimates, although the exact number is not known.
Most are in an area known today as the Belford Historic District, an eight-block area south of University Avenue and east of Austin Avenue.
Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, its homes include Queen Anne, Prairie School and Victorian house styles.
Ms. Firestone said it’s possible more Belford-built homes may still stand in Georgetown, but establishing provenance is problematic.
Each piece of Belford lumber used in construction was stamped with the company name, she said, but whether Mr. Belford actually built the home or the lumber was purchased from him is difficult to determine.
As a prominent citizen, Mr. Belford also served the community as vice president of First National Bank. He owned the Georgetown Ice Factory and bottling works, and also opened a branch lumber yard in Weir.
The Belford era ended with his death in 1929. He and his wife, Mollie Carothers Belford, are buried in the Odd Fellows Cemetery.
Preservation Georgetown Home Tour 2025: Built by Belford
Saturday, December 13: 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Sunday, December 14: Noon to 5 p.m.
Start at Grace Heritage Center, 817 South Main Street
Tour destination addresses will be on the ticket booklet which serves as your ticket to tour locations. In addition to the homes, visitors will enjoy a special look inside the St. John’s United Methodist Church sanctuary, also designed by C.S. Belford.
Tickets $35
VIP Brunch Package
Sunday, December 14, 9:30 a.m. and 11:30 a.m.
City Post Chop House, 113 East Eighth Street
Must have purchased tickets prior to the event
Tickets $85