417 Elm Street

1932. Kerr Regional History Center Collection.

This Tudor style bungalow at 417 Elm Street in Westland Addition with delightful eyebrows in the roof was built by William W. Miller, Jr.  The neighborhood began developing in May 1925 when the first lots were auctioned off. I wrote about Westland here.

This house was one of the earliest built in Westland.  On June 23, 1926, Kerrville Development Company sold this lot to Miller for $250.  The deed carried the provisions that the building must cost a minimum of $2,000 to build and finish, and that it was a whites-only community. The only non-whites who could live there had to live in separate servant quarters at the rear.  This racist provision was, of course, voided by law decades ago.

On August 7, 1934, W. W. Miller sold the house to W. E. and Marian Hahn for $3,400.  There was a requirement in the deed that Hahn must carry insurance against fire and tornado.  Within the year the Hahns moved to Baca County, Colorado, and sold the house to Mrs. J. E. (Rose) McCreary "feme sole" for $2,500.  "Feme sole" means "single woman" and indicated she had the right to own property in her own name.  In this case she was widowed.

In 1936 her daughter and grandson were living with her.

On November 4, 1939, her son-in-law and daughter, A. Edward Granes and Emma Pearl Granes, sold the adjoining vacant lot, no. 11, to Rose McCreary for $300 and moved to Cherry Street.  She died 1941 and is buried next to her husband at Glen Rest Cemetery.

While researching this house I came across the best, funniest obituary I've ever seen.
It appeared on the front page of the Kerrville Times August 4, 1938.

Parrot, Hero of San Francisco Fire, Dies at 41.
Closing with peaceful death an adventurous, action-filled life of 41 years, during which he survived fire, earthquake, and revolution, "Polly", a parrot owned by Mrs. J. E. McCreary, 417 Elm Street, toppled over backward in his cage Saturday.

["Polly"... what other name could you possibly give a parrot?!]

"Polly", a native of Mexico City, was a cosmopolite, globe-trotter and and accomplished linguist.  He could converse both in English and Spanish. 
Highpoint in the bird's career came on April 18, 1906, in San Francisco when the great earthquake and fire destroyed the city and brought death to hundreds.  When the first major shock was felt at 5 o'clock in the morning "Polly," with cries of "Help!", awakened the McCreary household.
"Polly" had traveled across the continent, from San Francisco to New York.  He had been to Cuba and returned often to his birthplace, Mexico, a country which he left several times during revolutions, escorted by bullets.
"Polly" was buried under a rose bush, and his spirit doubtless has gone to the parrot heaven where a cracker can always be had for the asking.

After Rose McCreary died the house was rented out.
In 1953 the house was advertised for rent as a 5-room house.  By October, 1955, it was a 6-room house, so this may indicate an addition on the house.

While doing renovations, the current owners discovered evidence of a fire in the past.  Digging around in the old newspapers brought up the Kerrville Mountain Sun, Dec. 23, 1964, report that sparks from a fireplace had ignited the shingle roof. A few weeks later a building permit was issued to W. A. Sullivan to make repairs estimated at $1,500.

The next owners were members of the Leinweber family. Mrs. Lena Pearl Leinweber died here in 1976 at the age of 80.  She had been living with her daughter and son-in-law, Mr. and Mrs. Cid Bluemel. Sometime after Pearl died her daughter Ferne Eckert retired, moved home to Kerrville from South Carolina, and lived in this house with her husband Clifford Herman Eckert. In 1988 she was one of seven candidates for Kerr County Commissioner, District 1, losing to Dr. Gordon Morgan.
The Eckerts eventually returned to Summerville, South Carolina, where he died 2002.

*****
If you have a house more than 50 years old that you would like me to research, please contact me at dgaudier at gmail dot com. 

808 Earl Garrett Street

2012

A note on the back of the photograph indicates this Tudor-style house at 808 Earl Garrett was built in 1916 by Otto Schwethelm at the time of his marriage to Ysabel Faltin, of Comfort. They lived here until 1943.  This was a substantial house for its time. In 1930 it was valued at $10,000.  Otto Schwethelm was a rancher and banker and worked for the Schreiner Bank for 46 years.  At the time the house was built, he was an assistant cashier at the bank.
He died at the age of 89 in 1981.  She died at the age of 96 in 1991. They are buried together at Glen Rest Cemetery.
The Schwethelms were charter members of a dance club known at the German Club of Kerrville.  I learned about the club from a January 14, 1984, article in the Kerrville Mountain Sun marking its 50th anniversary.   You did not have to be German heritage to belong. "German" referred to a "French-style dance" called the German popular when the Club was organized in in 1934.   When the dances first began they were held on one of the Real ranches in Upper Turtle Creek about 17 miles from town. Otto Schwethelm told a tale that when some of the men got out to open the seven gates on the way, they "took a drink at each one and arrived at the dance in high spirits."
(Just a bit of local color for you.)

ca 1988

Bobbie Baldwin was the next owner, living here from 1944 until 1949 when he sold to H. W. Harlin. Harlin was a rancher who lived part-time in Kerrville. In 1952 he sold to Arthur W. Brock, who in 1954 received a permit for additions to the property.  He was a career Air Force Colonel.  The Kerrville Times reported that during his last four years he served as director of the intelligence division of the Air Force.  Brock sold to James Clanton in 1961. In 1964 Clanton in turn sold to William M. Tomlinson who owned it about three years. The next owner was Robert Nuetze. The Nuetzes occupied the house until 1977. There were a series of short-term occupants after that and in 1983 Olde House Partnership obtained a permit to convert the house into the current apartment units at a cost of $30,000.

343 West Main Street

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ca 1932 Kerrville tax office photo

2013

This house at 343 West Main Street in Westland Place was erected in 1928 for U. S. and Lena Bounds.They purchased the lot in December 1927 from the Kerrville Development Company for $300 and started work on the house shortly after.  She was a member of the Christian Church and often entertained church groups in her home. Her husband was a plumber.  The 1930 census and several San Antonio city directories gives his name as James U. S. Bounds, but he is only referred to as U. S. Bounds in newspaper mentions.

In 1934 the Kerrville Mountain Sun ran several advertisements for "Alberty's Food for TB".  This concoction, which claimed to be a homeopathic remedy for tuberculosis, was sold at two places in Kerrville--at the C.C. Butt Piggly Wiggly and at 343 West Main.  There is no indication that this was a shop selling anything else--only Alberty's Food. The Boundses may have been reps for the product.  At the same time they were operating Nu-Deal Loans and Insurance, offering personal secured loans and insurance of various types.

They moved to San Antonio in July 1935.  They later rented the house to Harper Rawlings who taught vocational agriculture in the public schools for  a few years before moving to Marfa.  By 1940 the Boundses had sold the house to Mack and Leona Morgan. He was proprietor of Five Points Package Store. They owned this house the longest.  Leona lived here four more years after Mack died in October 1961.  After she sold the house, the property changed hands and occupants on a regular basis. Since the names of the occupants as shown in the city directory and the names of the owners as recorded in the deed records rarely match up, it must have been a frequent rental.

It is now houses a small business.

328 West Water Street

ca 1932, Kerr History Center Collection.  Note the sidewalk in front.

This little Tudor style cottage in Westland Place was erected in the fall of 1929 by P. M. Wright, a local developer.
In November 1928, R. Holdsworth and his wife sold this lot to William Auld for $575. A few months later he sold the lot to P. M. Wright for $400, taking a loss. Wright then erected the house.  The first owners of the house were Harry and Estanislada? Gordon, who purchased it in February, 1930, for $3,250.  A native of Lithuania, he was a local businessman, who initially ran a grocery store in Legion, but by this time was in the automobile business, selling Durants.  Within the year he expanded to Hudsons and Essexes.
His wife, also foreign born, was from Mexico. Her name is difficult to read on the 1920 and 1930 census, but it appears to be Estanislada. 
The next owners were Ludwig and Estelle Rickels, who lived here from 1932 until October 1939 when they sold to Doris Johnson.
This property changed hands often, but remained a residential property until March 1987 when the City of Kerrville approved a conditional use permit for a dentist office. It has seen commercial use since then.