When nature becomes novelty : preserving petrified wood resources in North Central Texas

Abstract

This thesis documents the historical, architectural, and cultural significance of petrified wood resources within a 100-mile radius surrounding Glen Rose, a small North Texas town near Dallas-Fort Worth. To determine the significance of resources built of petrified wood, this thesis examines its geological characteristics, documents its discovery in Texas and the American West, and records the growing appreciation for it as a fossil and decorative building material. Residents of North Central Texas created resources of petrified wood during the 1920s and 1930s, and this thesis explores geographical and historical contexts, considering the National, statewide, and local developments that influenced residents to build with prehistoric material that is 112 million years old.

Resources built of naturally occurring unique regional materials exist in other

parts of the United States; this thesis studies properties built in Eastern Florida of coquina and in Southwestern Oklahoma of pink granite cobblestones, and considers how they are valued and preserved in their regions. Petrified wood resources in North Central Texas represent a distinct regional building type, but residents and community leaders are not yet fully aware of their rich history and significance in the region or within Texas. This thesis presents methods that preservation professionals and advocates can use to raise public awareness of the value of these picturesque resources and effective tools they can use to preserve them for future generations.