Special contributor
Lillie Miller is a 6th-generation Collin County resident and chairs the Collin County History Museum Board of Directors.
When it opened in 1913, the Collin County History Museum was a United States Post office and Postal Savings Bank. This three-story federal building was designed by architect J. H. Suttle in the Italianate style, a look favored by early 20th-century government buildings meant to project stability, dignity, and permanence. The building is clad in limestonewith an arched three-bay recessed entrance and wide overhanging eaves with detailed brackets.
The building is a showcase of regional materials. Gray Texas granite foundation and steps were quarried from the Llano Fields, Texas limestone walls came from Cedar Park Quarry in Williamson County, and there is Athens brick in the basement and on interior walls.
Other original features include copper trim, a clay tile roof, a large original boiler in the basement, and a striking cast-iron and marble staircase. The building has terrazzo and imported marble floors, decorative molding and carved wood details, operable interior windows designed for natural air circulation, as well as original light fixtures, doors, and cast-iron radiators…