You can find history in almost every nook and cranny in Round Top. Even in the most unlikely of places: the town’s public toilet.

But venture into the recently completed municipal bathrooms on town square next to the courthouse and you’ll find both sanitary facilities and an engaging portal to the past.

You can thank town historian Sally Reynolds for that.

It was Reynolds’ idea to incorporate archival imagery of Round Top into the interior design of the new public restrooms, part of a larger town square improvement project (the town courthouse comes next). In a manner both subtle and striking, reproductions of historic photographs and artwork are permanently embedded into the walls within the lavatory. Washing your hands was never so educational.

The public restroom project, completed in the fall, was a long time coming. The new loo wasn’t just a refurbishment of the existing toilets: the former bathrooms were completely demolished, and a new facility was repositioned and constructed, twice the size of the old one. The new public accommodations join the private restrooms in Henkel Square as necessary facilities in a town that is overwhelmed with visitors during the antiques fair and enjoys a healthy influx from out-of-towners on weekends.

“The restrooms weren’t adequate, and they were small and old,” Reynolds said. “It was time for Round Top to have new restrooms.”

The project began under the tenure of former mayor Mark Massey; finishing touches came under current mayor Judith Vincent. Larger, handicap accessible, and with an architecturally significant barn-red roof, the new structure’s interior design was greatly enhanced once Reynolds came on board.

A respected and well-known Houston art dealer, consultant and curator, Reynolds saw the unadorned restroom walls as a blank canvas – perfect for both artistic and historic adornment. Inspired by a public arts project in Coronado, Calif., she proposed that historic images of Round Top be digitally transferred onto special tiles that were embedded into the wall structure on both the women’s and men’s sides of the restroom. Affixed with historical labels, these sepia images – dignified and suggesting an appreciation for academic-tinged nostalgia – are presented as a continuous, chest-height banner. The only adornment on the travertine-colored walls, the images give the space a handsome, gallery-like feel. (Not surprising, coming from someone whose long career was marked by leadership roles in communicating with the public about fine and contemporary art.)

While sourcing and working with the company that could create the tiles was an involved process, Reynolds said it was worth the effort.

She said she recently was in the restroom and overheard two women who walked in who were both surprised and impressed by the “installation.”

“You don’t go into too many public restrooms that have a bit of history,” Reynolds said.

As a Round Top resident, she’s not only proud of her community, she sees the allure that has endeared so many to the most charming small town in Texas.

“It’s a magical place in my opinion,” she said. “The beauty of the countryside, the quiet peacefulness – there’s something special about Round Top.”

And that goes for its restrooms.

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