235 Earl Garrett Street

This small building at 235 Earl Garrett Street was built sometime between 1904 and 1910. It has a distinctive skylight, a feature I've not seen in any other local building of that period.
The Sanborn Fire Insurance maps show that in 1904 there was a frame building at this approximate location. By 1910 it had been replaced by this stone building and housed a jewelry store. In 1916 it was a jewelry and millinery shop.
There is a gap in the record between 1916 and 1925.

In January 1925 Isaac W. Van Hoozer purchased the dry good and grocery stock of bankrupt J. W. Burney's store on Schreiner Street and moved it to the building Van Hoozer owned on Earl Garrett, "next to the Kerrville Tailoring Company" according to the February 19, 1925, Kerrville Mountain Sun. Van Hoozer had remodeled and refinished the building and opened the store for business the previous Monday morning (February 16).
Also in January, 1925, I. Van Hoozer, along with other property owners on Earl Garrett Street, was assessed for street repairs. (I was reminded of the game Monopoly!) His assessment was based on owning 13 feet of frontage on Earl Garrett.  The other property owners on the block were M. F. Weston who owned 129 feet; A. C. Schreiner, 50.5 feet; E. E. Dietert 31.0 feet; E. Hawes, 78.9 feet; Sid Peterson 75.5 feet; and C. Wheelus 43.1 feet. (Wheelus owned the Guthrie Building.)

Van Hoozer's business didn't last long, because the July 7, 1927, Mountain Sun reported the following: "Richard Smith, John Burkhardt, and Charles Durrin have opened a restaurant and lunch on Earl Garrett Street in the building formerly occupied by the grocery of I. W. Van Hoozier [sic] & Son.  The interior of the lunch room, which is under the management of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Durrin, is nicely arranged." There is no indication of the name of this business.  Durrin had previously owned a lunch room called the "Midget Lunch Room", also on Earl Garrett Street, and later owned one in the 800 block of Main Street.

The next mention in the newspapers of a business at this location is the Post Office Barber Shop, which is mention for the first time in the newspaper in 1936--the year the new Post Office opened in Earl Garrett Street. This is very likely the same time the barber shop opened. It was owned for many years by W. L. Tillson. When he retired in 1973 he sold to John F. Tom.

When, after many years the Post Office Barber Shop closed, it was followed by the Smokehouse, which sold tobacco products and paperback books. The Smokehouse moved from an earlier location on Water Street. This building is still often referred to as "The Smokehouse" even though it most recently was a law office.

An interesting item I found is the fact that after Isaac Van Hoozer died his son Floyd sold off part of the building, keeping one side, renting out part.  The other part may be in the area where the small garden is today, but I am not sure.  I need to spend more time in the deed books.