713 Sidney Baker Street

This house across from Zion Lutheran Church is yet another Kerrville house that started out in a different location. It was probably built around 1900, making it more than a century old.

Henry J. Niehaus  received a permit in late September 1951 to move a house to 713 Sidney Baker, presumably this one. 
There were several ads in May and June 1951 advertising  buildings to be moved, including "large 6 room house to be moved or wrecked and removed from premises.  Lots of good material in this building.  John S. Atkins 202 Blue Bonnet Hotel." This is the description that most closely matches the pictured house.  But even knowing who may have owned it I have not yet been able to find where it was originally. Do any of my readers know?

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.

Old Kerrville First Presbyterian Manse

Once upon a time Presbyterian churches provided residences for their pastors.  The home was known as the manse.  Today the pastors get a living allowance instead and choose their own homes.
This brick building on Earl Garrett between Jefferson and North streets served as the manse for the First Presbyterian Church of Kerrville for almost 50 years. It was erected in 1931.  The following item appeared in the Kerrville Times of June 18, 1931.
Work to Begin Soon On Presbyterian Manse
The congregation of the First Presbyterian Church voted last Sunday to award the contact for the building of the new manse to W. W. Miller & Son for the general contract and the plumbing and heating contract to W. B. Brown Co. Although the contracts have not been signed by the Building Committee, it is assumed that the contracts will go to these two firms as the low bidders.
The manse is to face Earl Garrett and will be of brick finish.  Nine rooms, three bathrooms, and sleeping porches are provided.
Work will begin within a few days. ... A. W. Malin is the architect.
The old manse is to be rearranged for class use of the Sunday School department.

The manse ceased serving as the home of the pastor in 1979. Rev. Neil Weatherhogg was the last pastor to live in the house. It was incorporated into and attached to the church building in 1981.

902 Jefferson Street

This two story house was originally only one story.  It was expanded, by additions and remodeling, into a 12-room, two-story house in 1931 by the owner L. T. Davis. The original house was constructed sometime before 1899, exact date uncertain. This property was part of the estate of Nicolas Souballe, a native of France, who died March 31, 1913, in this house. He was a pioneer settler in Kerr County, arriving in 1868. He may have married more than once.  In the 1880 census, his wife's name was given as Rose. There were no children. In 1900, his wife's name was give as Mary.  She had one child, who was not living with them, so was either an adult or had already died. It is possible Mary and Rose are the same person. Her headstone in Mountain View Cemetery, which reads "Rose Sowball", was supposed to read  "Here repose Nicolas Souballe and his wife M. R. Souballe."
His heirs were Ann (Annette) Rotge, her children Louise, Peter, and Ernest Rotge, and one Louis Michon. Ann Rotge was a native of France. It is probable there was some sort of family relationship. I also found mention in a 1928 newspaper of one Louis Jonon, a stepson of Souballe. He is not mentioned in the will.
Ann Rotge and daughter Louise cared for Souballe until his death.  According to their declaration he had no children of his own.  He owned three houses and lots on Jefferson Street. This is the one Louise Rotge inherited.
It's interesting to note that although he had lived in this country for more than 50 years, Souballe wrote his will in French.  An official English translation is filed with it.

In 1924, Louise Rotge sold this lot and house to Louis T. and Estha Davis for $2000. The Davises, who arrived in Kerrville in late 1920, owned The Vogue ladies' ready to wear shop on Water Street. They lived in this house many years.

Nicolas Souballe also owned the houses at 908 and 912 Jefferson Street. Earnest Rotge inherited the house at 908 and Peter Rotge inherited the house at 912.

In 1920, Earnest Rotge sold the house he inherited to C. B. Mellancon?; Peter sold his to J. Q. Wheeler. Three years later, both properties were sold to Dr. Edward Galbraith.

Cypress Creek School

The western face has no windows.

The eastern face, with five windows.

The "comfort" station

After photographing buildings in the city of Kerrville and in the Turtle Creek Community, I decided to venture further afield and went to find the Cypress Creek School.  The school building is located at the northern end of Stoneleigh Road, Comfort, just off FM 1341. The drive, whether coming from Center Point or Kerrville, is scenic.
This lovely limestone rock building, erected 1908 by the German-speaking residents, was an active school until 1942, when the school was closed and students were sent to Comfort. It has a Texas Historical Marker .

It was interesting to note that while there are five windows on the eastern face, there are no windows on the western face of the building.  It seems odd since it would make the building darker, but was the purpose, perhaps, to keep the schoolhouse cooler in the hot months?

This schoolhouse now serves as a community center.  Near the school  are two "comfort stations"(latrines) and a large pavillion with picnic tables.

1421 Broadway

2011

1932

A. C. Schreiner sold the lot this house sits on to Y. W. Baker in June 1922.  Baker bought four adjoining lots for $900, with the apparent intention of erecting rental houses. The house you see to the rear on the left is one Baker built for himself.
This house appears on the 1924 Sanborn map so it was put up in 1923 or late 1922. At that time the house number was 1321 Broadway.
Early advertisements describe it as a modern 4 room cottage with large sleeping porch and garage.  It doesn't seem to have changed much in the intervening years. With the exception of the porch railings, even the exterior architectural details are the same.
The house today is a commercial property, and has been since at least 1985, possibly earlier.

1400 Water Street

I've been puzzling over this house for a while, so I think I'll just lay out some of the more interesting items I've found.  Some of what I have found is conflicting. Maybe someone out there knows more about this 1920s era house.
Today this house on the corner of D Street and Water Street has the address of 1400 Water Street, but originally it was 1300 Water Street.  The address changed sometime between 1924 and 1927, exact date uncertain.
In September 1922, Harry Gordon and wife sold the lot this house sits on to Mrs. Dora Brown for $800.  After checking prices of surrounding lots I found some lots selling for as little as $75, so I believe there may have been a building on the property.  The 1924 Sanborn fire insurance map shows a small store building with a porch.  The porch overlies the street right-of-way.  (I'm having trouble getting the Sanborn map to load properly.  If I fix it, I'll add the map so you can see what I mean.)

In December 1923, she sold the business to H. A. Hartmann and P. J. Baethge.  They went out of business eight months later in July 1924.  Mrs. Brown must have begin operating a new store, because the following item appeared in the May 1, 1924, Kerrville Mountain Sun.

Noll Believes in Advertising.
Henry Noll of the Noll Stock Co. believes in advertising and never misses a chance to boost his business but he is undergoing quite a lot of joshing over one of his latest advertising stunts.
Several years ago when the Noll Stock Co. put on auto delivery service they had a practically new horse drawn wagon left on their hands. Mrs. Dora Brown, who recently opened a grocery in the lower part of the city, offered to buy the wagon.
Henry, sensing an opportunity for boosting his business, offered to sell the wagon to her at a reduced figure if she would permit him to carry an ad on the side of the wagon.  She agreed, and the trade was made. When the wagon appeared on the streets on one side it bore the legend, "It Pays to Trade at Noll's". But on the other side in glaring letters was the additional information: "You Can Buy Cheaper at Mrs. D. Brown's."

The county deed book records on May 21, 1925, a sale of land from R. E. Brewer to Mrs. Dora Brown in the amount of $1675 mentions a house on the land. She also gets several pieces of furniture:  1 dining table, round, and 6 chairs, 1 cane rocker, 2 home made walnut rockers; 1 dresser, 1 center table, 1 iron bed, one mattress, one coal oil stove and oven and one heating stove.

Then, on July 30, 1925, the following item appears in the Kerrville Mountain Sun. Note that the brothers combined two store buildings they owned. Is this the same building? Was this house actually created from combining two retail buildings?  Were they living behind the store?

Brown Brothers Enlarge Grocery
The Brown brothers have just competed the doubling of the amount of floor space occupied by their grocery store on lower Water Street near Lakeside Park.  Two store buildings owned by them have been moved together and the walls torn out between, making one large room for the display of their wares.
The mother of the boys, Mrs. Dora Brown, started the store about two years ago, but has now turned business over to her sons, who recently closed out their business in Boerne.  Names of the proprietors are I. M. and S.A. Brown, and they are wide-awake, progressive merchants.

December 1926, Sam A. Brown bought the business from his brothers and on December 1 opened the store as a cash and carry.  Two months later Alois Remschel opened a tire and accessory store in the building "former occupied by Brown Bros Grocery".  He was still in business in July 1927, yet during this time H.E. Lucas opened the Lucas Cash Grocery in April 1927.  This building must be at today's 1400 Water.  The "old" 1400 would be 1500 today, and in 1930 there was no building at 1500 Water.
The following is from the May 5, 1927, Kerrville Mountain Sun.

Extension to the Lucas Cash Grocery.  H. E. Lucas, who opened up a cash grocery store at 1400 Water Street recently, is engaged this week in making an enlargement to his store.  Fixtures are being installed in a room adjacent to the store and progress in installing an up to date delicatessen shop, where he will be able to furnish to the public a complete line of salads, lunch meats, sandwiches, pastries and other picnic or luncheon delicacies.

In the 1930 and 1940 censuses this building was occupied as a rental residence, Avislena Patterson and family being here in 1930, and Wayne T. Sibson and family in 1940.  It continued as a private residence until sometime after 1960.  A day care center operated here 2000-2006.  The most recent occupant was the Most Holy Theotokos Mission of the Orthodox Christian Church.

I have much more on this house, chain of title, newspaper mentions, and census data which I won't bore you with, but much of it is conflicting. Do any of my readers know more about this house?

The Auld Center

This building at 1121 Second Street, Kerrville, exists today because the youth of Kerrville raised the money for it.  Originally to be called the J. M. Auld Family Youth Center, it quickly became known as the J. M. Auld Youth Center.  Today the building is simply known as the Auld Center and is no longer a youth center. It has been the home of Club Ed community education programs for more than two decades. While many Club Ed programs have moved to the Dietert Center, some classes continue here today.  (As a note, the original address was 629 College Street. Giving buildings new addresses, especially corner lots, has not been uncommon around here.)

In February 1947, 147 youth met and organized a Teen Age club sponsored by the Tivy Jr.-Sr. P.T.A. and the American Legion Auxiliary.  Youth submitted names for their new organization. By popular vote, the name "Tivy Teen Tavern" was selected.  Betty Plitt suggested the name.  Her prize was a carton of gum and one dollar!
At first Teen Tavern was held at the American Legion building on Memorial Boulevard, but it quickly outgrew the space.  The youth decided to raise money for their own building.  After about a year of fund-raising, J. M. Auld, at the urging of his children, donated the remaining funds.  The hollow tile and concrete building was completed at a cost of $14,000 in December 1949.

964 Barnett Street

This house at 964 Barnett, now belonging to the Unitarian Universalist congregation, was built in 1924.
The first owners were sisters Reba and Lynn Burnett.  Two years later they offered it for sale, but it didn't change hands until they sold it to Charles and Kate Real in 1929.  Charles was a "medicine salesman".  Charles and Kate lived here 5 or 6 years, then put their house up for rent. It has had several owners since.
In 1942 there was an unusual ad in the newspaper:  "WANTED Couple retired interested in playing ahuffleboard during morning or afternoons Please drive by 964 Barnett Street."
I understand this completely.  I would love to find some folks to play Scrabble with!
The occupants at the time were Mr. and Mrs. Homer Brooks.  I wonder where the shuffleboard court was.
The house had a number of occupants over the years.  Robert F. Snow lived in this house the longest--from before 1958 to after 1971.

The Unitarian Church bought it in 2007 to provide additional space.

960 Barnett Street

This cottage at 960 Barnett Street has been the home of the Unitarian Universalist church since 1998.

James and Hazel Young, who moved to Kerrville in 1913, bought this house in 1919 from J. B. and M. A. Tucker. The Tuckers may have been the ones who built the house. The Tuckers bought the entire lot from J. E. Palmer in January 1919, then divided it, selling part to the Youngs. The increase in value of the property and the fact that the Youngs were required to carry insurance until the debt was paid, suggests that the Tuckers built the house, then sold it to the Youngs.
James Young managed the Schreiner Grocery Dept. for many years; his wife was a piano teacher. This was their home as well as her piano studio.  He died in 1951; she continued to live here until her death in 1963.  They are buried at Garden of Memories.

In 2007 the Unitarian Universalist congregation bought the house next door.  I will blog about that house next.