The Neill-Cochran House Museum is located in the heart of Austin, TX.

House Construction

In 1855, a young couple commissioned local builder, designer, and businessman Abner Cook to construct a fine Greek Revival house on nearly 18 acres of land northwest of the city of Austin. 30-year-old Washington “Wash” Hill and his wife Mary were very much in good company; as Austin’s economy rapidly expanded after it once again became the capital of Texas in 1845, many prominent Texans found themselves in the market for finer residences in and around the city.

The Hills, like the majority of white Austinites, were enslavers and they designed a home intended to be serviced through slave labor, along with a slave quarters that today is the only intact structure of its type in the city. However, the Hills’ ambitions exceeded their means and, despite their attempts to finance the project, including through the sale of five enslaved people, they were unable to afford the finished home. As a result, they never moved into their suburban residence.  

School for the Blind

Wash and Mary Hill sold their Greek Revival mansion on completion to real estate speculators JM Swisher and Swante Swenson.  Swenson, who was on the board of the Texas State Asylum for the Blind, leased the property to the newly established state-funded boarding school and its students and teachers were the site’s first permanent occupants.  These included at least 5 hired-out enslaved people, many unnamed other than as property of their enslavers: Louisa (a girl owned by William Smyth for $8/month), Lam (a boy belonging to W.P. Mabin), a woman along with her 8-year-old daughter from Mrs. Henrietta Eggleston ($150/year), and a girl belonging to Secretary of State Col. Edward Clark ($10/month).

Federal War Hospital

During the latter part of the Civil War, Lieutenant Governor Fletcher Stockdale lived on site with a 10-year lease to own contract on the property.  Stockdale briefly served as Governor in 1865 and surrendered Texas to federal troops under the command of Colonel George A. Custer. Custer requisitioned the property for a federal war hospital for soldiers recuperating from yellow fever and cholera.  The quarantined soldiers damaged the property extensively, but thanks to that damage we know that the house site was surrounded by white palings (a wooden fence) at the time, that the interior walls were plastered, and that each room featured a wooden mantelpiece (all of which survive today).

Becoming the Neill-Cochran House

Our site was already 20 years old when it finally welcomed its first owner-occupants, the family of Andrew and Jennie Neill.  The Neills were wealthy and came to Austin from the far more elegant and sophisticated city of Galveston. With limited built real estate available in the small town of Austin, the Neills chose to purchase the old Hill House for its grandeur, despite its remote location from the capitol and downtown.  During the years they lived in the home, they threw lavish parties (they were particularly known for their wine cellar) and entertained all the prominent politicians of the day.  In 1892, Thomas Cochran accepted a position on the federal bench that brought him, his wife, three young children, his mother, and his father-in-law to Austin.  The family first leased and then ultimately purchased our site in 1895, beginning what would become 65 years of continuous occupancy over four generations. Over this time period, the home saw births, deaths, weddings, World War I, the Spanish Flu, the Great Depression, and World War II.  We are proud to present objects that existed in the home during the Cochrans’ six decades of occupancy.

The Great American Treasures Museum Alliance

The Great American Treasures are more than 60 historical sites—BIG and small—that tell the complete story of how AMERICA became AMERICA. You’ll feel the drama, the humanity, the rhythms of everyday life, and the thrill of our greatest triumphs so deeply, you’ll never see history the same way again. Click on the logo to the left to be taken to the Great American Treasures website.

The National Society of The Colonial Dames of America in the State of Texas (NSCDA-TX)

The NSCDA-TX actively promotes our national heritage through historic preservation, patriotic service and educational projects and the ownership and operation of the Neill-Cochran House Museum, which it acquired from the Cochran family in 1958. The NSCDA-TX also supports research through a Scholarship in American History awarded to a graduate student at UT Austin, and its mission in patriotic service by hosting multiple naturalization ceremonies for new youth citizens at the NCHM each year. Click on the logo to the left to learn more about the NSCDA-TX.

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