In spite of little recognition by Texas during her lifetime, in recent years Katherine Anne Porter has been honored increasingly in the region of her birthplace, Indian Creek, Texas. Most significant among acknowledgments of the importance of Porter to Texas letters and twentieth century literature have been the efforts of Yana and David Bland, owners of the house in Kyle, Texas, in which Katherine Anne Porter spent her childhood years with her father, Harrison, her brother, Paul, her two sisters, Gay and Mary Alice, and her grandmother, Catharine Ann Skaggs Porter. The Blands, who are currently renting the house at 508 Center Street to tenants, secured a special use permit from the Kyle City Council for a zoning exemption that would allow them to run a museum in a residential area. The Katherine Anne Porter Museum was opened to the public in November, with visiting hours 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays, and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturdays.
Admission is free.
The museum will use the front rooms of the house. An antique shop offering gifts, antiques, books, and artwork is being set up elsewhere in the house to help underwrite the cost of maintenance and operation. Porter's nephew Paul Porter has lent memorabilia of his aunt for display in the museum. The Blands have financed the conversion of the house into a museum, but they also are seeking grant funding to maintain the building.