The Brown Building

Have you ever noticed the letter "B" in the corner trim work of this early art deco building at the corner of Main and Earl Garrett Streets? It was erected for W. B. Brown in 1926, so this a monogram.  

The original building on this corner was nearly destroyed by fire in December 1925, so Brown's primary goal in constructing this replacement building was to make it "fireproof".

The June 17, 1926, Kerrville Mountain Sun reported "Construction of the modern one-story, fire-proof store building for W. B. Brown at the corner of Earl Garrett and Main Streets will start in the next few days.  Architect’s plans for the Brown building include space for three stores and a drive-in filling station, to be built of reinforced concrete, brick and tile with a foundation for additional stories.  The contract was awarded Monday to W. C. Thrailkill of San Antonio."  Like the Bahre Building, this is another where the builders planned ahead for the possibility of expansion, although here too the second floor was never built.

The drive-in filling station, initially owned by R. A. Remschel, was on the corner. There is evidence of the gas station still visible. In the photo below, look at the telephone pole on the corner. You can see where the sidewalk is cut at an angle behind the pole.  That is where cars used to pull up to the gas pump.   

Schreiner Cash and Carry Grocery

What we think of as the Schreiner Store building is actually several buildings erected over many years.  This art deco building at 214 Earl Garrett, now home to Schreiner Goods, was erected in 1936 for the Schreiner cash and carry grocery.
Schreiner's original cash and carry grocery, which opened in 1926, was in the basement of the building at the corner of Water and Earl Garrett Streets.  In 1926 the cash and carry grocery was a fairly new concept.  Prior to the development of "cash and carry", customers used to call in or deliver their grocery orders to the store, the groceries would be charged to the customer's account, and then delivered later in the day.  As cars became more common, stores moved to a cash and carry concept, whereby customers would select groceries from the shelves themselves, pay cash, rather than on credit, in order to save money and then carry their groceries home themselves.  When the Schreiner grocery department closed in 1963, the hardware department moved in. The department store closed in 2007.

Old Post Office

This art deco building at 228 Earl Garrett Street served as Kerrville's Post Office from 1936 to 1998 when it moved to its new location across the river. It is now home to the Kerr Arts and Cultural Center.


In January 21, 1926, the Kerrville Mountain Sun reported that the Chamber of Commerce heard a report that  Kerrville "had a fine chance to get an appropriation through Congress at this term for the construction of [a federal building]."  In June of that year the Hill View Times opined that "too much politics" was keeping Kerrville from having a new Federal Building.
March 7, 1929, the headline in the Kerrville Mountain Sun read "Kerrville is Included in Recommendations to Congress for New Government Buildings."  It was not to be.


Every year the local newspapers reported that Kerrville's new Federal Building was in the federal budget, and this would finally be the year.  It was not until December, 1935, that ground was finally broken.  
The architect was Ayres & Ayres, San Antonio.  The contractor was Templeton-Cannon.
The Post Office finally moved here from  rented space on Water Street in 1936, more than 10 years after the first announcement of a new post office for Kerrville.