Historical society seeks funds to restore Copperas Cove's Allin House

The Copperas Cove Historical Society is still trying to close the money gap on Allin House, a city-owned landmark at 401 N. Main St. that once belonged to Copperas Cove’s first mayor, Jouett Allin. After a year in the lease, the question is no longer whether the group wants to save the house. It is whether fundraising and grant work can move fast enough to match the building’s needs.

Kelly Rios, president of the historical society, updated Copperas Cove City Council on April 23 on the work done since the lease took effect. The group has handled maintenance and inspection-related tasks, kept after the property outside, and continued organizing fundraising and grant-seeking efforts. The required inspection was still not complete at the time of the update, a reminder that the restoration remains in an early and fragile stage.

That matters because the house has already shown serious signs of wear. Earlier reporting described severe termite damage to the back porch, broken antique windows, a battered brick front walkway and dry-rot on the front porch planks. Rios also told council the society is trying to protect the home’s historical integrity by using materials consistent with the original period, a point that carries special weight for a house completed in 1913 and designated a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark in 1998.

The city approved the lease on Feb. 4, 2025, for $10 a year, with two five-year extensions that could stretch the arrangement to 20 years. Under the deal, the historical society is responsible for utilities, inspections, prioritizing repairs and writing grant applications. City records also show Copperas Cove set aside $150,000 in matching funds for restoration grants, with a 2025-26 budget amendment adopted Jan. 20, 2026.

That structure gives the project a clear runway, but it also makes fundraising the deciding factor. Without outside money, the city’s matching pledge cannot do the heavy lifting alone, and the most urgent work on the house’s porch, windows and exterior will stay unfinished. For a property tied to Copperas Cove’s incorporation in 1913, the stakes are bigger than preservation alone: if Allin House falls behind now, the city risks losing one of the few physical links to its earliest civic history.

The site has remained part of public life even as repairs continue. In March, the city and historical society hosted a free 147th-birthday celebration there, underscoring the house’s role as both a landmark and a gathering place. The restoration effort now enters its next phase with the same test it faced at the start: whether Copperas Cove can turn community pride into the funds needed to keep Allin House standing.