War Memorials

Most people probably think of the monument on the courthouse grounds when they think of a war memorial in Kerr County. Some also think about Francisco Lemos, Sidney Baker, and Earl Garrett, the World War I soldiers for whom three Kerrville streets are named.
There are at least two others. One is the Cailloux Theater which I wrote about here. Another is the Butt-Holdsworth Memorial Library which I mentioned here.
Today I am writing more about the B-H Memorial Library.
 
In the January 11, 1957,  Kerrville Times, in the column called "Brother Red Sez", the author pointed out that $26,000 had been collected some twelve years earlier to be used as a War Memorial.  The Memorial had not been built and he argued for using the money to build a library for Kerrville.  At the time it was housed in two rooms of the Schreiner Mansion,  the rest of which served as the Masonic Temple.  They wanted to take over the space that the public library was in, but the library had no place to go.  Plans had been drawn but fundraising was going very slowly for a memorial library for Kerr County. This was a county wide effort as reported in the November 14, 1957, Kerrville Mountain Sun.   

The April 3, 1958, Kerrville Mountain Sun reported, "Out of a desire to have the new building to stand as a memorial to deceased Kerr County veterans of all wars, the sponsors have designated the proposed structure as the Kerr County Memorial Library." Even though the public library in Kerrville is designated as a memorial to all deceased Kerr County veterans--not just Kerrville veterans, the County Commissioners at this time will not financially support the Butt-Holdsworth Memorial Library.  The name of the library was originally the Kerr County Memorial Library.  The fundraising for the library was a county-wide effort with many clubs, individuals, and businesses making donations.

The Kerr County War Mothers Association took on the responsibility of collecting the names of Kerr County men who died in the service of their country. The list was to include the names of men who died while their families were residents of Kerr County, or who went to the Armed Forces giving Kerr County as their home.
When in 1958 the library moved from space in the Schreiner Mansion to the former Pentecostal church on Water Street, a bronzed plaque was hung in the entrance to the Memorial Library. 

This war memorial is older than the Memorial Auditorium, erected 1960, which became the Cailloux Theater,  and older than the memorial on the Courthouse square and yet it seems forgotten.

As for that $16,000... I'm not sure if it went to the Memorial Library, or to the Memorial Auditorium.  When I find that information I'll update this site.