Mosty's Garage

November 2012.  Tricky getting a photo without cars at a busy intersection.

Edited to enhance details

This is Mosty's Garage at 101 Water Street.  Mosty's has been at this location since February, 1930, but the business is older than that. It was established as Luther & Mosty Garage in late 1926 on Main Street. Four months later they moved to 111 Water Street, just across the Town Creek bridge. In August, 1928, Mr. Evlyn Mosty bought out H. N. Luther and the business became Mosty's Garage.

March, 1926, Thomas Frayne sold the property to L. A. Leinweber for $1,500.  Three and a half years later, in November, 1929, L. A. Leinweber sold the property to Mosty for $4,500. That's quite an increase in value in 3 1/2 years.  There must have been a substantial building on the property.
On February 3, 1930, after a remodeling, Mosty moved his business one final time.  The garage has been here ever since.
The Kerrville Mountain Sun of February 6, 1930, made this report, "This property was recently purchased by the garage firm and remodeled into a modernly equipped service station and general repair department.  For several years Mosty's Garage was located at 111 Water Street at the north end of Town Creek bridge. "

I am not certain of the exact age of the buildings, but we know they were erected some time between 1924 and 1929.  The 1924 Sanborn map shows a house on this property, and in 1930 the buildings we see today were here, both the old gas station and the hollow tile service building behind.  We can assume Mosty didn't erect either building since the newspaper reported only that he had remodeled.

I have not been able to absolutely determine what business was here before Mosty's but I found an advertisement for the  "St. Louis Fur Buyer, Water and Lemos Sts.  Dealer in Furs, Poultry and Eggs. Dressed Poultry at all Times" in the Kerrville Mountain Sun of December 20, 1928.
Since at the four corners of this intersection in 1930 were Haines funeral home, two residences, and a commercial building, it is highly likely that the business in this space immediately before Mosty's moved in was the fur buyer.