Joe Herring Jr.

Over the Top, a World War I memorial sculpture at the Llano County Courthouse.
Image from the Austin Chronicle website.

I have long admired the World War I memorial statue on the southeast corner of the Llano County courthouse square.
It's a striking statue of a young soldier storming up from the trenches of France. The soldier's right arm is raised, with his hand in a fist; the other carries a rifle with fixed bayonette. He wears a helmet and backpack, along with a canteen, bag for a gas mask, and a cartridge belt. The statue is on a base made of Llano granite.
"In grateful memory of the men of Llano County who made the supreme sacrifice in the World War 1917-1918," a plaque beneath the charging soldier reads. Seventeen men's names are listed, and then the words "If ye break faith with us we will not sleep," a rephrasing of lines from "In Flanders Fields," by John McCrae.
The statue in Llano was erected by the Shakespeare Club of Llano in the early 1920s.
I think I first noticed it as a high school student while traveling through Llano on a school bus. Later, driving my car through Llano, I often stopped to admire the sculpture. I thought it was a fine piece of public art, and a touching remembrance of those young men from Llano who gave their lives to make the world safe for democracy.

The Charles H. Noyes memorial statue in Ballinger.
Image from TexasEscapes.

I don't know why I thought the statue was unique to Llano. I suppose I was comparing it to the statue of Charles H. Noyes in Ballinger, Texas, which was created by Pompeo Coppini. Our route to visit my maternal grandparents took us through Ballinger, and we often stopped to look at the statue of the young man and his horse.
The Noyes statue commemorates the short life of a young cowboy who died after a fall from his horse. It was commissioned by his parents, and was initially meant to be erected at the spot where young Noyes died, on the Noyes Ranch out in Concho county. Out there it is unlikely anyone would have seen the statue. Ballinger was fortunate to have the statue placed on its courthouse lawn.
The young cowboy's saddle, boots, bridle and gear were sent to the sculptor, and the resulting statue is wonderfully executed. It's a memorial not only to young Noyes, but to Texas cowboys. The title of the sculpture is "The Spirit of the Texas Cowboy."
It turns out the statue in Llano, of the brave World War I soldier, also has a title: "Over the Top," and it was sculpted by John Paulding. But the statue is not unique to Llano.
In fact, there are over 34 sites around the country that have a copy of "Over the Top" erected in memory of fallen soldiers. There are two in Texas: the one in Llano and another in Amarillo.
Paulding made numerous castings of "Over the Top," and there were four versions of the sculpture; Llano has version 2043-A.
I suppose I was surprised to learn there were so many of the statues around the country, but not disappointed. Remembering the fallen was not unique to Llano, and while the statue appears in many places, I continue to admire its sentiment.
That war was 100 years ago, and the sacrifices made here and abroad have slipped from memory. Thanks, however, to organizations like Llano's Shakespeare Club, we be reminded of those hard years. I'm not sure that club still exists, but I'm thankful for the contribution they made to Llano.
Until next week, all the best.

Joe Herring Jr. is a Kerrville native who often stops to take a closer look at interesting things. This column originally appeared in the Kerrville Daily Times April 15, 2017.

First National Motor Bank, 1960s, near intersection of
Water and Washington streets, on the south side of Water Street.
Super modern design, don't you think?

Editor's Note: I'm afraid the links this week might confirm my geek street cred.

We all know the moon only shows us one side, rotating once per orbit, with the same side always facing earth. What if you could travel around the moon? What would it look like? This video shows you. You're welcome.

Likewise, what about a flight over Mars -- what would that look like? Here you go.

We think the USA drives tech innovation, and for the most part it does. But there's another country which is influencing the future of tech, especially mobile tech. How China is changing your Internet.

Speaking of the Interwebs, this new exhibit shows off the early days of the World Wide Web.

This video is the geekiest I will post today. But those of you who watch it to the end will find it pretty darned cool. I remember playing Asteroids for the first time at Kerrville's long-gone bowling alley. That game was amazing.

There are many things being written about transgender folks, most of it hateful. I thought this piece, written by a mom, was interesting.

Here's an editorial essay about the importance of attending church, which I miss.

I've lived in a small town almost all of my life. (The exception: the years I spent at U. T. Austin.) This essay about "Main Street" was interesting. There are some things in the piece with which I disagree, but it sure made me think.

My sweet Ms. Carolyn has posted a new instructional video about making art with a gelli plate. Yep, I'm proud of her.

Wow! All-time page views at joeherringjr.com crossed 500,000views last Thursday morning. That's amazing amount of traffic for a blog about the history of a rural Texas county. Thanks, everyone! I'm kinda jazzed about this milestone.

Fish among the cypress knees, Tranquility Island, near Lemos Street, Kerrville

I walked along the riverbank behind our print shop today, a rough stretch of bluff above me, and the green Guadalupe just below. I wonder how many times my feet have found their way there.
The river has a smell there, across from Louise Hays Park. It is not an unpleasant smell, but it does remind you that the water is filled with many creatures, most of which you cannot see. Looking at the river from beneath the canopy of trees, the water seems to glow. Among the cypress roots below the water, where the light shines through the roots, you can often see the outline of small fish. Perch, mainly.
The trail beside the river also has a smell, because it is heavily traveled by an assortment of animals. People occasionally wander down there, but mostly it's other animals who pass by. Most mornings when I look over the bluff I see deer parading in line along their time-worn trails. I've seen other animals, there, too: skunks, rabbits, armadillos, opossums, squirrels and, just once, a porcupine. A friend tells me she often sees foxes around our building at night.
Today I saw a little snake, much less than a foot long. It was black with a yellow ring around its neck, a harmless snake. I've seen many snakes down there, though I'm sure more have seen me than I have seen.
It's important to remember as you tromp alongside the river the snakes live there; we're just passing through their home. Some of the snakes I've seen down there include moccasins and coral snakes, either of which could ruin your day.
Several feral cats live in the neighborhood, and I often see them down there, too. I suppose they help keep the snakes in check, and plenty of the songbirds, too. One of the feral cats born behind the shop was tamed by my son and now lives inside the print shop -- a lanky black and white tom named Safety Officer. We've paid to have several generations of this cat's family neutered and spayed and SO is the last survivor of that clan.
Our section of the riverbank has few history stories to tell. Our family is only the sixth family to own these lots.
One of the earliest families to own our little stretch of riverbank was the founding family of Kerrville: Joshua and Sarah Brown. In fact, they lived on or near our print shop property, somewhere between our press room and the library. The giant oaks between the print shop and the old A. C. Schreiner mansion were standing when the Brown family lived here. I like to call those oaks "Founders' Oaks," and I hope they can be preserved as the property is developed. Those trees have survived since before there was a Kerrville.
Another of the families who lived on this lot was the Parsons family. They bought the lots in 1878 and owned them for the next 80 years. (In comparison, our family has only owned portions of the property for about 52 years.)
Dr. G. R. Parsons was an interesting guy. Despite fighting with the Union Army during the civil war, he was quickly accepted into our community. In fact, he was elected Kerrville's fifth mayor.
He was also responsible for hundreds of other families making Kerrville their home. He arrived in Kerrville very sick -- dying from tuberculosis. Somehow he recovered. He spent decades writing to national medical journals, telling others about the health benefits our climate offered those suffering from tuberculosis. He built the area's first tuberculosis sanatorium, which stood where Peterson Plaza is today (at the intersection of Water and Sidney Baker streets).
Many local families can trace their arrival in Kerr County to an ancestor who was afflicted with consumption, who came here seeking health. Most came because of the efforts of Dr. G. R. Parsons.
My parents bought the lots in three separate transactions over a period of decades, the first in 1965, then another in 1970, and then the last from the remnants of the old Charles Schreiner Bank, after it failed, around 1990. During these years we put ink on a lot of paper, and we still do.
It's different below the shop on the riverbank, though. It's not busy. While that stretch has seen some changes, it's still mostly wild. The foxes who come out at night are hardly concerned which family currently owns the property, and the snakes are concerned even less.
Until next week, all the best.

Joe Herring Jr. is a Kerrville native who was born one block away from the print shop. This column originally appeared in the Kerrville Daily Times April 22, 2017.

Margaret Thatcher famously suggested if you wanted someone to speak, ask a man; if you wanted to get something done, ask a woman. In my study of local history I’ve found that many of the successful efforts to make our community a better place have been achieved by women. This has been true from the earliest days of our community.

It would be an exaggeration to suggest the communities of Kerr County would lack paved streets, that we would not have public schools or churches, and that bathing would be infrequent if it were not for women, but it’s not that far from the truth, either.

The following stories are about a varied group of local women. Most were well educated. Some were wealthy but most were not. Many of them overcame tragedies; several lost a child. Most knew hardship.

What unites them is their concern for others. Well, that and hard work.

Rosalie Dietert

Rosalie Dietert came to Kerrville with her husband Christian in 1857 when there were only five shacks in the whole town, all scattered near the banks of the Guadalupe. They were immigrants from Germany. Christian was a millwright who built several water-powered mills in surrounding communities. He built several in Kerrville, too.

Christian was appointed postmaster in 1868, though, in reality, he was postmaster in name only. Rosalie ran the local post office from her home on Spring Street. (That street still exists, but you have to know where to look. It’s opposite the front doors of Notre Dame Catholic Church on Water Street.)

The first post office fixture was a frame made by Christian Dietert out of cypress wood. Four feet high, three wide, and seven inches deep, it contained 12 pigeon holes six inches high, along with three compartments 14 inches wide by 6 high for newspapers and packages. A lower section 17 inches high comprised the entire width of the frame and was used for the general "paraphernalia pertaining to the office." That little piece of furniture handled the entire volume of mail in Kerrville the twenty years, until 1888.

There were many firsts in the Dietert home. Because of the saw mill, theirs was the first house that used milled cypress lumber. They had the first stove, and the first Christmas tree in Kerrville.

Years later she was asked by her great-granddaughter “What ever made you leave your home, brave the sea, and throw your lot in an unknown land?”

“With me it was the spirit of adventure,” Rosalie Dietert replied, “All of the papers were full of the new world and of Texas.”

What did she find here? “There were no roads, or dry camping places, and danger of Indian raids was ever present.” In Kerrville, there was “nothing but a cluster of five small log huts, of one or two rooms, a wilderness of trees, and grass as high as a man, with Indians skulking through.”

About her life in Kerrville, she wrote “Hardly a day passed without its visitor or overnight guest, or a meal partaken that was not shared by some chance traveler.” Mrs. Dietert ran a very social home. She also taught many of the young people in the community how to dance.

That kindness and hospitality made Kerrville a community.

Florence Butt in her store
Click any image to enlarge

Many know the story of Florence Butt, the woman who started what is now H-E-B. She arrived in Kerrville in 1905 with her husband, Charles, their three sons, and two stepsons. Charles was ill, suffering from tuberculosis; it would kill him eventually, and take their adult son Charles as well.

Looking today at the company she started you’d assume life was easy for Florence Butt. It was not. She started her grocery store out of necessity: she needed to provide for her family. Her husband, a pharmacist, was too ill to work.

Kerrville was not particularly kind to families who brought tuberculosis with them to our community. The family lived in a tent on the outskirts of town for some time. Eventually Florence attempted to sell groceries door to door. At one house she was greeted with disdain: “We do not buy from paddlers,” she was told, as the door slammed in her face.

At a time when few women attended college, Florence Butt had a college degree. In fact, she graduated at the very top of her class. At a time when few women started businesses, she started a grocery store. At a time when women were not allowed to preach, she was generous to the poor, taught Sunday School, and helped establish a congregation on the east edge of town. And this was at a time when she could not vote.

The thing about Florence Butt is this: she did not give up. And she was unfailingly generous, especially to those in need.

Mary Holdsworth Butt

Florence Butt had a son named Howard who married extremely well, somehow persuading Mary Elizabeth Holdsworth to be his bride. Mary Butt was a Tivy graduate from a good Kerrville family. She graduated from college, trained to be a teacher. She was a teacher all of her life, though she spent very few of her years in a classroom.

In the late 1960s she took on a special project in Kerrville: she and her husband built a library.

Kerrville had a library, a little library in the building at the corner of Rodriguez and Water streets; previously the library was in the first floor of the old Charles Schreiner mansion on Earl Garrett Street.

Those old libraries were probably about right for a community the size of Kerrville in the 1960s. Small. Volunteer driven. Strapped for cash.

Mary Butt and her husband dreamed bigger and could afford to help make that dream possible. In 1967 the oddly-named Butt-Holdsworth Memorial Library opened with an impressive amount of small-town fanfare. Lady Bird Johnson attended the dedication ceremonies. Looking through the photographs of the event one can feel the excitement of the occasion. It was a really, really big deal.

And yet it was completely in line with Mary Butt’s life as a teacher. With that one project she opened a million doors for our community.

Annie Walker Doyle

Fewer know the story of Annie Doyle. Like Florence Butt, she had a college education, and was one of the best-educated women in Kerrville. She was married to a well-educated minister, Henry Doyle, who suffered from tuberculosis.

Annie Doyle dedicated her life to teaching children, and the children she educated had been overlooked by our community. Her students, like Annie, were African-Americans. There was no school for them because of the color of their skin.

After Henry died, Annie stayed in Kerrville and taught elementary school in a building she helped obtain from the Kerrville school district and had moved to land she bought.

For many years she was not only the principal of the school, she was its only teacher. And she was paid less than other teachers in the school district.

When B. T. Wilson and his wife Itasco came to Kerrville, they asked that the school be renamed in Annie Doyle’s honor.

And what of her students? They changed the world.

Clarabelle Snodgrass

I think Clarabelle Snodgrass and Josephine “Dodo” Parker might be surprised to find themselves bound together in the same story. They were two very different women.

Clarabelle grew up in the Turtle Creek community, and later she and her husband Ross ranched on the Divide. After moving to town she became active in the Kerr County Historical Commission.

Dodo grew up in town; she was the great-granddaughter of Captain Charles Schreiner. Her husband, Clyde, was active in local businesses, including the Schreiner store downtown. Later in life she and others formed the Hill Country Preservation Society.

What did these two accomplish?

They helped preserve the history of our community.

Clarabelle Snodgrass was tireless in working within the historical commission to tell the history of our community. She obtained historical markers throughout the county, and her leadership helped save the original Tivy School building from demolition. That building now serves as the administrative offices of the Kerrville Independent School District. And she was instrumental in the publication of the Kerr County Album, in which hundreds of local families told their story.

Josephine "Dodo"
Parker

Dodo Parker was just as tireless in preserving history. She and others worked hard to build a museum in the former home of her great-grandfather, the Schreiner mansion on Earl Garrett Street. For decades the old home served as a center for historic preservation. Her work likely saved the old mansion from being torn down.

Both Clarabelle and Dodo are gone now, but the work they did helped preserve a great amount of our local history, and they helped build a foundation for those who follow.

I picked these stories because the few women mentioned really represent so many others. To tell all of the good accomplished by Kerr County women would take thousands of pages.

I'm thankful for the hard-working women of our community, and proud of the community they helped build. The story isn't over: the community continues to benefit from the hard work of its women.

This article originally appeared in the May 2017 issue of Texas Hill Country Culture Magazine.

Pampell's after a big July 4th parade, 1952
I believe the man with the cane and hat, along the back counters, is J. L. Pampell
Click on image to enlarge

It's hard to walk by Pampell's these days and see it vacant. It was such a vibrant part of downtown when I was a boy -- and even later, when my children were young. Today there are few folks under 30 who remember Pampell's as it once was, busy and full of life.
The name, "Pampell's," was a family's name. J. L. Pampell, of Brenham, Texas, arrived in Kerrville on Independence Day, 1890. That means he arrived in Kerrville about the time many of the oldest buildings in downtown Kerrville were erected, including the Masonic Building (now home to Sheftall's Jewelers), and the Weston Building (now home to Francisco's Restaurant).
In 1931 a small history of Kerr County was published to help celebrate the 75th anniversary of the creation of Kerr County. It was written by middle school students under the careful guidance of their history teacher, Mrs. Kate Franklin.
The sketch about J. L. Pampell paints a picture of what Kerrville looked like in the 1890s; he arrived in Kerrville on Independence Day, 1890.
"I was impressed at first by the sight of the beautiful hills, the fine Guadalupe River and the splendid class of people who were found, not carrying 'six-shooters' nor lacking in their welcome to a stranger. Captain Schreiner's store, his residence, the St. Charles Hotel, and Dr. Parsons' livery stable, with the dance hall above, were the chief buildings except the court house and the Union Church, where all denominations worshipped."
The streets looked a lot different then, too.
"There were no sidewalks worth speaking of and where we walk on pavements now on Water Street's business section, we had to cling to upright cedar picket fencing in rainy weather to keep from bogging up in the mud.
"Water was hauled in barrels and delivered to consumers at 10 cents a barrel...It was not uncommon to see hauling done by oxen, daily trudging along. Cows from private homes were driven to the pastures to graze around the town, night and morning, in substantial herds through the streets.
"My first small business place was an 'Ice Cream Parlor and Confectionery,' where the present wool warehouse now stands," the report reads.
That means Pampell's first store was about where the porch of Cartewheels Catering now stands, almost directly across the street from the Arcadia Theater and Baublit's Jewelers.
He opened the store "six months after my arrival, with the small amount of $600 of my own earnings." That would mean the first Pampell's store opened in early 1891.
"The cows would leisurely pass my establishment, and help themselves to a cabbage or a bunch of bananas, and continue on their way."
"The town was literally filled with tourists and health-seekers who had already learned of this splendid health resort. There were people from all parts of the globe. When the new wool warehouse was erected, I was moved to a building where the post office is now located."
I think, given the timeframe, Pampell's second location was near where Sheftall's Jewelers is today, in the middle of the 200 block of Earl Garrett.
"In 1899 I purchased and removed to my third and present location where the property was then known as the Gregory Hotel."
Pampell tells a bit of what folks did for fun.
"One of the most popular diversions was horseracing, for which the public would come miles to witness. Large sums of money would be bet by the owners. These races were held in what is known as the Tivy Flats, where a number of modern homes now stand."
I think 'Tivy Flats' was probably around where today's Broadway Street now runs.
"The river was alive with fish and the woods full of deer and turkey and it was not unusual to hear a coyote yelp around the little city. Pecans were yours for the picking and I have seen wagon loads of brought in by farmers and ranchmen. The best offer [for pecans] would be perhaps two cents per pound.
"Cord wood sold for $1.50 a cord and chickens were two for 25 cents, and nice frying-size chickens could be bought for 10 cents each. Wild honey and venison were peddled on the streets."
Kerrville was quite a different place back then.
I'm old enough to remember Milton Pampell, son of J. L. Pampell. And I have many happy memories of the soda fountain at Pampell's from when I was a boy, in the 1960s.
Pampell's was a drug store and soda fountain in my youth. Mr. and Mrs. Bob Hood ran the store then, followed later by Steve Ackman. When my children were young, Sandy and Jon Wolfmueller ran an antiques store in the building, but the soda fountain remained; Beth Johnson ran the fountain during that time.
Later Ken Wilson purchased the property and spent a fortune renovating and shoring up the structure. Afterwards a successful bar and grill was in the building.
Since then many different restaurants have come and gone in the space, and today it is vacant. I last walked through the building in late 2016, when a group was considering the building as the site for a Kerr County history museum.
Until next week, all the best.

Joe Herring Jr. is a Kerrville native who enjoyed many malted milkshakes at Pampell's. This column originally appeared in the Kerrville Daily Times May 13, 2017.

Tivy High School Pep Rally, 1956
Downtown Kerrville, intersection of Water and Earl Garrett streets
Click on any image to enlarge

In the autumn of 1956, students of Tivy High School staged a pep rally in downtown Kerrville, as they had for decades, and as they would continue to do for decades. As with most of these events, there was a photographer on hand, taking photographs, most likely for the yearbook. The photographer carefully labeled most of the photographs.
These photographs were taken with film used to make color slides, which is a little unusual, but fortunate. While the colors have shifted a little to red and orange over the past 60+ years, a shift which can be easily corrected using modern computer software, the important thing is this: these images are in color. Many of the images in my collection from that era are in black and white, so having color images from 1956 is a real treat.
No one is completely sure who took these photographs, but there are several theories, including the yearbook photographer theory. The leading candidate, if this theory is correct, would be Barbara Matthews Eddy. (If these photos were taken for the yearbook, these images would appear in the 1957 Antler, as the yearbook is published at the end of the school year.) Many clues suggest Ms. Eddy was the photographer: the handwritten labels on the slides, plus the fact that many of the found photographs were taken later, when Ms. Eddy was in college in Minnesota.

Tivy High School Pep Rally, 1956

How these photographs returned to Kerrville is a story that would not have been believed in 1956.
As many of you know, I publish a history blog online. (A 'blog' is kind of an Internet newsletter.) Most Mondays and Saturdays I post photographs or stories about the history of our community. There is no charge to read the blog, and pages from the blog have been viewed over 500,000 times. The website address is simple: www.joeherring.com
People come across the blog all over the world. I've had readers from all fifty states, plus 141 foreign countries. Honestly, though, some of the countries on the list are ones I would not be able to find on a map, and most of the visitors from outside of the U.S. don't spend a lot of time on my website. Go figure.
Monday I was contacted by a person in Minnesota who told me he'd found a box of color slides at an estate sale in Hastings, Minnesota. I suppose he searched the internet for Tivy, or for some of the names written on the sleeves of the color slides. That led him to my blog, and to my email address, which he used to contact me.

Tivy High School Pep Rally, 1956

He's never been to Kerrville, but has some family in New Braunfels. And he was very generous with the photographs, scanning some and emailing them to me.
Imagine, then, how this story would have read in 1956: "Local man publishes blog, which is read over the Internet by a man in Minnesota; the man in Minnesota scans 60 year old color slides and sends them to local man by email."
I've asked for permission to publish the photographs on my blog, and the man in Minnesota has graciously agreed. Over the next few days I'll post the photographs. I think you'll agree they're pretty cool!
1956 was an important year in Kerr County: it was the year the community celebrated the 100th anniversary of the creation of Kerr County. It was also a year when thousands of photographs were taken of events which marked that celebration: parades, contests, store displays. Most of those photographs, however, were in black and white.

Tivy High School Pep Rally, 1956

The photographs of the pep rally made me realize some of the traditions which were popular when I was a student at Tivy in the late 1970s were started many years earlier.
In a few of the photographs, the students have their right arms pressed against their chests. Their right hand and arm are parallel to the ground; their right elbow is straight, too, and away from their bodies. Their extended right hands are just covering their hearts, palms facing down, parallel to the ground.
I knew exactly what they were doing as some of these photographs were taken, at the exact moment the shutter clicked. They were singing the Tivy alma mater while the Tivy marching band played. "We are from Tivy," they were singing, "from Tivy are we...."
Until next week, all the best.

Joe Herring Jr. is a Kerrville native who played the Tivy alma mater many times on his dented cornet, more or less in time and tune with the rest of the Tivy marching band. This column originally appeared in the Kerrville Daily Times May 20, 2017

Dedication Ceremony, WWI Memorial Park,
Kerrville, 1938

Did you know we have a park in Kerrville dedicated to the memory of Kerr County soldiers who gave their lives for our country in World War I?
Neither did I until a friend brought by some old photographs by the print shop last week, although I've passed by the little park several thousand times. It's likely you have passed it, too.
The park is located at what was once the gateway to the city, at the intersection of Broadway and Water streets. The joined streets become Memorial Boulevard. It's the little triangle of land opposite the Union Church, which is on the western tip of the campus of Schreiner University, and also opposite the Raphael Community Free Clinic. Recent utility work has left a unsightly slab of concrete and various utility boxes marring the site.
Before IH10 sliced through our county, all traffic between San Antonio and El Paso passed this little triangle of land; that route was called the Old Spanish Trail, and it stretched from Florida to California, just like IH10.
So, in 1938, when the park was dedicated, it was the entrance to our community, and the park was chosen for its prominent location.
The photograph shows a group of women standing behind a carved stone on which a bronze plaque is mounted. On either side of the women are two men with U. S. flags. Behind them a group has gathered, and you can see a tent (similar to funeral home tents) in the background.
Looking at the photograph, I thought I recognized some of the women, and so I had to research the photograph. I found it featured on the front page of the July 7, 1938 edition of the Kerrville Mountain Sun.
"Gold Star Mothers Attend Dedication of War Memorial," the headline read. At the time of the dedication, almost 20 years had passed since World War I ended. (That anniversary would come in November, 1938.)
According to the story, "the site of the park was purchased by the Civic League from the county commissioners, and the marker was given by Mr. and Mrs. Garland Lang. The city of Kerrville will care for the spot...."
There was a "massing of colors," while the "'Call to Colors' was sounded by the buglers from the Boy Scouts.
"Col. L. H. Webb, medical officer in charge of the U. S. Veterans facility at Legion, served as master of ceremonies, and called the names of Kerrville's glorious dead, telling something of their lives, and introduced the Gold Star Mothers."
The past commander of the State Department of the American Legion attended, and a man named Dean Martin gave a speech.
He said "people were gathered for a memorial day, for a day of dedication, to pay tribute of respect to the memory of those men from our county, our homes, who, answering the call of duty went down to the Valley of the Shadow and there answered the last roll call. In giving freely they gave their all and now sleep where the poppies bloom, 'between the crosses, row on row.'
"We are gathered," Dean Martin said, "to link the present with the past, and to face the future unafraid. 'Optimism without frivolity, seriousness without despair.'
"War means mothers who look for letters they will never see, wives who wait for voices they will never hear, and children who listen for footsteps that will never come."
The Gold Star Mothers pictured at the dedication were (on the front row) Mrs. Faust Merritt, Mrs. W. G. Garrett, Mrs. W. P. Cowden, Mrs. Eddie Kaiser, and Mrs. E. W. Baker. On the back row were Mrs. Mark Mosty (representing her brother, Robert Spicer), Mrs. Della Sommers (representing her brother, Grover Hollimon), and Mrs. Knox (representing her brother, Randolph Davis). The color bearers in the photograph are George Hauer and E. E. Kelsey, V. F. W. members.
This Memorial Day weekend, as you pass by the little park, remember the men for whom it was built, and the mothers' tears with which it was dedicated. It is a quiet little memorial and we often pass it by without notice.
Until next week, all the best.

Joe Herring Jr. is a Kerrville native who will certainly miss his father-in-law, Irv Gregory, who passed away Tuesday. This column originally appeared in the Kerrville Daily Times May 27, 2017.

Original employees of HEB store in Kerrville Texas

C. C. Butt Grocery Company employees and the Florence Butt family,
a selfie, taken around 1915 in downtown Kerrville

An interesting photo returned to Kerrville this week. It was taken in the 800 block of Main Street, roughly behind where Wolfmueller's Books stands today on Earl Garrett Street. A parking lot is on the site now, but when the photo was taken, around 1915, a family's home was there, and the photograph was taken on the porch of their house. There are eight people in the photograph; six men and two women.
On the front row are Johnnie Hamilton, Nita Butt, Florence Butt, and Howard Butt; standing behind them are Claude Richerson, Leland Richeson, Charles Butt, and Gene Butt. Charles, Gene and Howard are Florence's sons; Nita is the wife of Charles Butt. Johnny Hamilton is the brother in law of Leland Richeson. The one person who is not connected to the others is Claude Richerson, but I have a theory to explain why he is in the photograph, which I'll explain in a bit.
Florence Butt opened a grocery store on Main Street in Kerrville in 1905 in a two-story building which was across the street from the house where this photograph was taken. That little grocery store grew into what is today's H-E-B Grocery Company.
I'm thankful to a kind friend who sent me an original print of the photograph; I had a nice scan in my collection (also from him), but having an original will allow me to study the details much easier. (That scan was used in my first book, "Home," which was published in 2010.)
Studying the original photo, I can now tell the photo was a selfie. You can see the shutter cable snaking from the camera to the bench on which four of the people are resting. I can't determine whether Florence or her son Gene took the photograph; Florence's hand looks as if it might be pushing the plunger on the cable, but Gene had an interest in photography at the time, and the cable looks as if it's heading toward him.
What's interesting about the photo, at least to me, is who is in the picture, and who is not in the picture.
Leland Richeson was the first employee of the grocery store, and was later a business partner with Howard Butt for many years. Later still, he became the first retiree from the company. If this photo was taken in 1915, Richeson was around 26 years old.
Leland's brother in law, Johnnie Hamilton worked at the store and roomed with the Butt family. I have a scan of a postcard he wrote home on April 3, 1915, where he writes "Am in Kerrville now. Guess will spend Easter here. Am feeling very well." Johnnie came to Kerrville because he had tuberculosis; he passed away from the disease in 1918.

Florence Butt home in Kerrville Texas around 1915

The Butt family home in Kerrville around 1915.
Back of Masonic Building (now Sheftall's Jewelers)
can be seen to right of home.

I can guess why Florence, her sons, and her daughter in law were in the photo. All were active in the grocery business. Charles, according to a sketch by J. E. Grinstead, was taking a leadership role in the company; in this photo, Charles would have been around 25. Howard had just graduated from Tivy in 1914; he would serve in World War I in 1918. Gene offered film processing at the store, and would later leave the grocery store to work at the post office. Sadly, Charles would later die of tuberculosis.
Missing from the photo was Florence's husband, Charles Sr., who passed away in March of 1915, also a victim of tuberculosis. Missing, too, was Florence's stepson Kearney Butt, who ran a second-hand furniture store in Kerrville.
Which brings us back to Claude Richerson. In early October, 1915, this item appeared in the Kerrville Mountain Sun: "Claude Richardson [sic] of the C. C. Grocery Store has accepted a position with Guggenheim-Goldsmith in San Antonio."
Based on all of this, I have this theory: this photograph was a picture of people who worked together. I think this was a photo of the employees and family of Florence's little grocery company.
According to H-E-B's website, the company now has over 76,000 employees. But on a cold day in Kerrville, sometime around 1915, the entire company could crowd around a rocking chair built for two, and have their photograph taken.
Until next week, all the best.

Joe Herring Jr. is a Kerrville native who collects historic Kerrville and Kerr County photographs and historical items. This column originally appeared in the Kerrville Daily Times June 3, 2017.

1938 Tivy Bugle Corps taken on Antler Field, on Tivy Street

Tivy Bugle Corps, 1938, on Antler Field,
back when the football field was parallel to Tivy Street.
Note building in the background behind bleachers.

It's one of my small obsessions, trying to figure out where something once stood, or trying to confirm where an old Kerrville photograph was taken.
Take, for example, the old Tivy football field. I've mentioned it plenty of times. The current Antler Stadium was opened in 1941, just a few weeks before the attack on Pearl Harbor, but Tivy had been playing football for decades before that stadium was built. I'd been told the old football field was near Tivy and Barnett Streets, but it was hard to figure out exactly where.
That football field hosted more than just football. For a string of summers it was also the site of a big July Fourth rodeo. It was a community gathering place, and it's now gone.
I had reported, years ago, the old football field was behind the school in an area bounded by College, 2nd, Gilmer, and North Streets. I thought this, I suppose, because a football field size area was there, and we'd practiced marching on that field when I was in the Tivy Band.
Wrong: the football field, I was told, was actually in the area bounded by Tivy, 3rd, College and Barnett. I was in the wrong block. Still, I couldn't figure out how they'd fit a football field in that crowded area; the old Tivy Elementary School took up most of that block.
Thumbing through the 1938 Tivy Antler yearbook today I realized how that football field fit into that block: its length ran parallel to Tivy Street, with bleachers also parallel to Tivy Street. I finally understood how the athletic field fit into the block because of a photograph showing the Tivy drum and bugle corps standing in formation on the field, with the bleachers behind them. The key, though, was a building behind the bleachers; that building is still there, at 805 Tivy Street.
The building shown has had many uses. When I was a child, I believe it was a kindergarten building; today it's the KISD Student and Family Services building. It has a distinct roofline that really stands out.

Taken in the home of Gene and Millie Butt,
on Earl Garrett Street. The clue was the fireplace.

And, as a different example, I was looking through some of the images shared with our community by a kind person in Minnesota who found a collection of slides at an estate sale. A series of photographs showed students at someone's house, and in one of the images a woman is seated near a fireplace.
I had this feeling I'd seen that fireplace before. It was made of rough cut granite and had a very singular look.
It happened that I had a printing delivery to make to the H. E. Butt Family Foundation offices on Earl Garrett Street this week. In the first building I entered, I asked if I could take a photograph of the fireplace, which is quite lovely. The kind person there reminded me there was another fireplace in the next building, and I should take a photograph there, too.
When I got back to the print shop, I compared the two photographs with the photos from 60 years ago.
It turned out the fireplace in the 1956-57 photographs was in the second building, which was a home built for Gene and Millie Butt. (The similar house next door was built for Florence Butt, who founded what is now H-E-B Grocery Company.)
I have a hunch the woman in the photograph is Millie Butt, who was a beloved fifth-grade teacher here in Kerrville for decades. She was the daughter-in-law of Florence Butt, and sister-in-law to Howard Butt. (I'm hopeful someone can confirm this hunch, or point me in the right direction.)
For the most part, this obsession is harmless. Hopefully it will help piece together the story of our community.
Until next week, all the best.

Joe Herring Jr. is a Kerrville native who often focuses on things which should probably be ignored. This column originally appeared in the Kerrville Daily Times June 10, 2017.

Kerrville, 1897. On the left, the Gregory Hotel; on the right, the St. Charles Hotel.
These stood at the intersection of Water and what is now Sidney Baker Street.
Click any image to enlarge.

In the winter of 1897 photographs of Kerrville were taken by "Mr. Lowrey, a traveling man.' Two of his photographs survive, and this past week a kind reader shared them with me, and now I can share them with you.
The problem with 120-year-old photographs is this: none of the structures in the two images still exist. By looking closely at the images you'd never find the spot from which they were taken, using modern clues, since the landscape and buildings have completely changed since that time.
This problem makes figuring out from where each photo was taken more of a challenge, and therefore much more fun. In fact, you'd need a bag of tricks to solve the mystery.
I can now confirm both of the images were taken in Kerrville; one from what is now Peterson Plaza, facing roughly west, toward what is now Pampell's; the other was taken from the other side of the river, in what is now Louise Hays Park, near where the footbridge stands today, looking up the bluff to the area between the vacant Bank of America building to the vacant Arcadia Theater.
Neither photograph shows people, though that's probably because it was cold. One of the photos was taken after a snowfall.
That photo, of the side of the St. Charles Hotel (which stood on the eastern corner of today's Sidney Baker and Water Street) shows the Gregory Hotel (which, after many transformations, is now the Pampell's building). I've never seen this photo before.
There are several significant things in the photograph. First, it shows the St. Charles grew after 1897; an addition shown in other photographs of the building is not in this photograph. Second, a building is visible between the two hotels which I've never seen before. It's on the western corner of the intersection of Water and Sidney Baker.
One of the tools I use to help me decipher old photographs is my collection of Sanborn-Perris fire maps, and I have a copy of one from August, 1898. I bought transparencies of these old maps years ago from the Library of Congress, and they've proven useful many times.
The 1898 map shows the St. Charles without an addition, and the 1904 map shows the St. Charles with the addition, so the handwritten date of 1897 on the back of the photographs is probably accurate.
The 'mystery building' shown in the gap between the two hotels is listed on the Sanborn map, and labeled "Notions & Mill'y," and its description on the map matches the photograph. It's a frame building of one story with an awning in front.

Kerrville, from the Guadalupe River, 1897.
The buildings shown once stood in the 700 block Water Street

The other photo taken in 1897 was more difficult to figure out. It was taken from the Louise Hays Park area, near where the footbridge crosses today, and it looked toward the bluff and town. At first I didn't think it was actually of Kerrville, but had been mislabeled years ago. This happens frequently. I didn't recognize a single building in the photograph, and there was a building in the middle with a chimney and sloping roof.
But studying the old 1898 map showed me I was wrong: it was definitely of Kerrville. The photographer waded across the river and pointed his camera north. The building with the chimney in the center of the photograph is the St. Charles Hotel. The building closest to the photographer was the windmill and warehouse shop of Charles Schreiner. The other buildings were a part of the camp yard, where ranchers could park their wagons and spend the night when they brought wool or mohair to market, or when they made a run into town for supplies.
Nothing else is known about the photographer, Mr. Lowrey, beyond the inscription on the back of each photograph. Perhaps additional photographs taken by him will be found.
In 120 years the photos we snap today will likely be as foreign to viewers as are these photographs to us. However, if all of the digital photos we take are never printed on paper, it's possible we'll have more photographs of Kerrville from 1897 than we will from 2017.
Until next week, all the best.

Joe Herring Jr. is a Kerrville native who collects historical items from Kerrville and Kerr County, and who enjoys a good puzzle. This column originally appeared in the Kerrville Daily Times June 17, 2017.

Kerrville, after a snowfall, February 5, 1923
Click on any image to enlarge
A copy of this image is available HERE

Recently a kind reader shared some historic photographs of Kerrville with me, and I've been tickled to share them here with you.
Years ago photography was not as easy as it is today, and it was expensive. People didn't take as many pictures as they do now. Even selfies were rare.
Thankfully, though, there were three things which would tempt people to take a photograph in Kerrville: a parade, a flood, or a snowfall.
Two of the photographs recently shared with me were taken on February 5, 1923, after a snowfall. They were both taken from the rooftop of the St. Charles Hotel, a grand hotel which once stood at the corner of Water Street and what is now called Sidney Baker Street; it stood on the eastern corner of that intersection. The archway for Peterson Plaza opposite Pampell's stands on that corner today.
At the time the roof of the St Charles was likely the highest point in downtown, at four stories tall, although the photographs were likely taken from the roof of section of the building which was only three stories. The Blue Bonnet Hotel, which would eventually rise to eight stories, was originally built with five stories in 1927. The Kerr County courthouse might have offered a slight advantage in altitude if the pinnacle was accessible.
The two 1923 photographs show a sleepy town covered in a light blanket of snow. In one, the photographer points his camera almost due east toward Tivy Mountain; in the other to the northeast, almost directly up what is now called Sidney Baker Street.
The photograph taken toward Tivy Mountain shows a lot of interesting things.
The large three story stone building in that photograph is the Kerr County courthouse, which was built in 1886. It would soon be replaced by the current courthouse, which was built in 1926.
The roofs in the immediate foreground are of two Schreiner buildings: a wool warehouse, and a windmill shop. I'm old enough to remember those buildings. The wool warehouse had a very distinct smell, though it was not unpleasant.
Along what is now Earl Garrett Street I notice there are a lot of residences, though near Main there are a few commercial buildings.
Where the post office will be built in the 1930s, at the corner of Earl Garrett and Main Streets, I see something I've never seen before: what appears to be a long arbor, which points toward the courthouse. It appears to turn at 90° angle toward Sidney Baker Street, parallel to Main. It almost looks like a cattle shoot, but checking the 1924 Sanborn map of the block, I can't image livestock being unloaded there. Perhaps it was just a pleasant walkway near Captain Schreiner's home. Where the Kerrville Arts and Cultural Center stands today, in the old post office, was once Schreiner's garden, complete with a greenhouse. When these photographs were taken, in 1923, Capt. Schreiner was still living.
In the distance you can see Tivy High School, the steeples of several churches, and a snow-covered Tivy Mountain.

Kerrville Texas 1923 after a snowfall looking north

Kerrville, after a snowfall, February 5, 1923
The road stretching away from the photographer is today's Sidney Baker Street.
A copy of this image is available HERE.

The other photograph, taken looking up Sidney Baker Street, shows what was called the Kellogg Building when I was a boy. When the photograph was taken, however, it was the Kerrville Hospital, and behind it, along Main Street, the Steagall Hotel, though by 1924 it was called the Bratton House.
In the distance you can see where Antler Stadium will be built in 1941.
I suppose my favorite part of this second photograph is in the foreground. It is the silhouette of a person in the middle of Sidney Baker Street. The person is facing the "Guarantee Garage." The way the person's right foot is extended, and the way the person's coat is billowing out, it looks as if a snowball has just been thrown, and the pitch captured on film.
I am so thankful to the kind couple who shared these images with all of us.
Until next week, all the best.

Joe Herring Jr. is a Kerrville native who collects Kerrville and Kerr County historical items. This column originally appeared in the Kerrville Daily Times June 24, 2017.

Courtyard of the St. Charles Hotel, Kerrville, around 1917
Click any image to enlarge
A poster of this image is available HERE

Recently a kind couple gave me an album of historic photographs and I've enjoyed sharing a few of the images with you here each week.
Among the photos are a cache of photographs of the St Charles hotel, many of them images I've never seen before. While many photos of the exterior of the hotel are in circulation, there are very few I can absolutely confirm were taken of the interior of the hotel. This album has several interior photos.

Kerrville's St Charles Hotel, around 1923
A poster of this image is available HERE

The St. Charles Hotel stood on the eastern corner of the intersection of Water and Sidney Baker streets. It was across Water Street from Pampell's, and across Sidney Baker Street from the city's parking building. Today the site is called Peterson Plaza; in recent memory it was the site of the Sid Peterson Memorial Hospital.
Why are photos of this long-ago hotel so important?
The St. Charles Hotel figures in our community’s history as the most elegant hotel of her era; many of the other local ‘hotels’ were actually places for boarding people suffering from tuberculosis. The St. Charles, as far as my research can tell, was always strictly for travelers, although a few rooms were rented to ‘bachelors’ for extended periods.

Kerrville's St Charles hotel, around 1907
A poster of this image is available HERE

In Kerrville, it was the place where the prominent visitors stayed, including William Jennings Bryan, United States senators Joseph Weldon Bailey and Charles Culbertson, and numerous Texas governors. Admiral Chester Nimitz, who gained fame during the Second World War, lived at the hotel as a youngster through his teen years when his stepfather and mother managed the facility.
In short, for several generations the St. Charles was a center of social life here.
The hotel was constructed in 1883, reportedly by Charles Schreiner. I have not discovered the reason for its interesting name, though I've tried. The hotel was razed in the summer of 1936, so it stood for around 53 years.
During its height it had 63 guestrooms, a large lobby, and a dining room that could accommodate 125 people. Because of the size of its banquet facilities, many of the community social events were held there, including the Tivy High School junior-senior banquet. It was also the original home of the Business Men’s club, an organization that later became the Kerrville Rotary Club, and both organizations had their first meetings in the elegant St. Charles.

Kerrville's St. Charles Hotel veranda, around 1920.
A poster of this image is available HERE

The building went through a series of owners and managers. Starting with Captain Schreiner, the next owners were Mr. & Mrs. Lee Mason. George Morris purchased the hotel from the Masons in 1907, and it was sold by his widow to Mr. J. V. Davis in 1930. Mr. Davis was then the operator of the new (and comparatively huge) Blue Bonnet Hotel, at the corner of Water and Earl Garrett streets. Mr. Davis then disposed of the property to Schreiner Institute, and the St. Charles was no longer in operation. In fact, the board of the Institute ordered the hotel torn down for materials to be used in the construction of a ‘two story barracks’ on the campus, to be added to the south end of the barracks known as the ‘Show Boat.’
Materials from the old structure found their way into other buildings, as well. Until our print shop’s fire in 1995, several of the interior doors were most likely ‘recycled’ from the St. Charles Hotel.

Mrs. Mattie Morris at the front desk of the
St. Charles Hotel, Kerrville, 1909
A poster of this image is available HERE

Growth in the popularity of Kerr County as a tourist destination allowed for numerous expansions to the original hotel, the last addition built in 1918, where a three-story annex was added to the building. Its stucco exterior is shown in many photographs of the era. Prior to the addition, the St. Charles was a two story frame building, with scrollwork on the eaves and balconies. There was a courtyard that held a badminton court and a bench glider, in the space between the main hotel building at the corner of the present Sidney Baker and Water Streets, and the old wool warehouse of the Charles Schreiner Company. Color postcards suggest that the original frame building was white with green trim. The addition in 1918 transformed the look of the building into a more modern looking structure that still retained its porches and balconies.
I'm truly thankful for these historic photographs because they offer a glimpse of the grand hotel that once graced Kerrville's downtown area.
Until next week, all the best.

Joe Herring Jr. is a Kerrville native who collects historic Kerrville and Kerr County items. This column originally appeared in the Kerrville Daily Times July 1, 2017.

Kerrville: Rodeo Days Parade on July 4th, 1950s.
Click on any image to enlarge
A poster of this image is available HERE

In 1856, when Kerr County was formed, the United States celebrated its 80th Independence Day. The country was still new when our county was formed.
There is no record of how our community celebrated its first July 4th, but one should remember there were very few people in the county at the time. The largest town in the county was Comfort (which was in the county at the time, before Kendall County was created). Center Point had more folks than Kerrville, too.
Kerrville only had four or five houses in 1856, and was at the edge of the Texas frontier. Center Point and Comfort were more established, but had small populations. If the communities in the county celebrated that first year, the details have been lost to time.
The earliest record I found of Independence Day celebrations came from a 1902 issue of the Kerrville Mountain Sun.
“Good time had at Ingram,” the headline read. “The picnic and barbecue at this place yesterday was a pronounced success. Plenty of everything to eat was in evidence. Candidates were on the grounds in greatest profusion, bragging on pretty babies, predicting abundant rains, and otherwise acting pleasant. The people were all happy, handshaking and good cheer was the order of the day, and all considered it one well spent.”
In the same issue, events marking the Fourth of July in Kerrville were reported.
“Great Success. The Fire Boys done Themselves Proud Yesterday,” the headline reads.

A Kerr County July Fourth picnic, around 1900

“Kerrville’s big barbecue goes into history as one of the most successful entertainments the town has ever given — 2,500 people stood at the big tables — Prince and Nabob, Peasant and Plebeian elbow to elbow eating barbecue and drinking black coffee, joking and laughing and enjoying the dinner in the fullest sense.”
The event was a fundraiser for “Kerrville Hose Company No. 1.” The firemen were described as “Brau and Bonnie laddies as ever reared a ladder, or held a nozzle.”
2,500 is a large number of people to feed, and if accurate, would have been greater than the population of Kerrville in 1900, which was around 1,400.
“All had an abundance of barbecued meats, bread, pickles and black coffee, and half as many more could have been fed on what was left from the feast. The entertainment was good, in every way, and all passed off without fiction. Hon. Jno. Coleman of Houston delivered an address at 2 p.m. That was short, timely, and befitting the occasion.”
That evening the ‘Kerrville Dramatic Company’ presented ‘Rip Van Winkle’ as a benefit for the Kerrville Hose Company at Pampell’s Opera House. “Mr. Morrison, as ‘Rip’ was a pronounced success. The other members of the company were supposed by show goers…to be professionals rather than amateurs.”
Community barbecues continued for decades. In 1905, the Sun reported a Fourth of July picnic “near Frank Moore’s crossing of the Guadalupe, 3 1/2 miles above Kerrville. The picnic will be under the auspices of the Farmer’s Union…Let everybody turn out and make this entertainment break the picnic record of Texas.”
In 1925, under the leadership of the Kerrville chamber of commerce, a picnic was organized to celebrate Independence Day at the ‘U. S. Veterans Hospital at Legion.’ That celebration was only 6 1/2 years after the end of World War I.

A rodeo in Ingram, 1930s

“There will be no dull moments during the afternoon and evening and every citizen of Kerrville to come out and mingle with the former service men at Legion, participate with them in the games, mingle with them, show them that we are interested in their welfare and are proud of them for the sacrifices they have made for their country’s sake.”
Music for the occasion was provided by the Kerrville Chamber of Commerce band. There was a baseball game during the event, between the ladies and the men attending. The ladies won.
In 1930, there were no festivities planned, other than a baseball game between Kerrville and Boerne. The “Modern Air Travel Corporation of San Antonio” sent an airplane to Kerrville and took paying guests on a quick trip over the city. Several of the summer camps put on special July 4th programs, including a water carnival and puppet show at Camp Mystic, a Texas history pageant at Camp Rio Vista, and athletics exhibitions at Camp Stewart.
In 1935, a new July 4th tradition began in the county: a big rodeo, produced the Kerrville Jaycees. These rodeos included parades, beauty contests, dances, and a big rodeo, which was held at “Antler Field.”
That meant the rodeo was held on the football field.
In 1936, the holiday was celebrated in Kerrville with speeches by politicians, the dedication of the new post office at the corner of Earl Garrett and Main streets, and the dedication of the recently completed ‘Charles Schreiner Bridge,’ which extended Sidney Baker Street across the Guadalupe River as part of what is now Highway 16. The community ended the day with a big barbecue at the state park, “opposite the Legion hospital.” Today we know the park as the Kerrville-Schreiner municipal park.
The 1940 rodeo was held after a series of rainstorms and there was some concern whether the show would go on. “Pierce Hoggett, rodeo director, stated Tuesday night after making an inspection of the Tivy Field. The thick turf covering the gridiron will give the animals ample footing, it was explained.”
For many its first seven years, the rodeo was held on the football field at the intersection of Tivy and Third streets. When present-day Antler Stadium was completed in 1941, the rodeo moved to the new location.
I wondered if the rodeo would continue during World War II, so I checked the 1943 newspapers reporting the event. The event was as large, if not larger, than the years previous, and included a horse show, trick riding, and a parade. Governor Coke Stevenson attended one of the rodeo performances.
In tandem with the 1943 event, money was raised for building an aircraft carrier “which will be used in the bombing of Tokyo. Overall the nationwide effort hoped to raise about $132 million; Kerr County’s share was about $12 thousand. The mystery ship had a name in the campaign: the Shangri-La. The ship was built, commissioned in 1944, and saw action in the Pacific, including sending planes to attack Tokyo.

Pampell's, July 4, 1952
A poster of this image is available HERE

The rodeo continued. In 1950 an airshow was added, sponsored by the Kerrville Aeronautics Association, and included 100 visiting planes. The airshow included an air race, and the crowds enjoyed a holiday barbecue. There was also a race between a Piper Cub and a ‘hot-rod automobile;’ the plane won.
In 1955, a square dance jamboree was added to the annual rodeo, which included a performance by ‘the nationally famous Texas Starlets of San Antonio.’
By 1961 it appears the Jaycees dropped the rodeo in favor of a bigger air show. To entice Kerr county residents to attend, it was reported “a quarter of a million S&H Green Stamps will be given away as door prizes.” The square dance festival also was presented that year, in the Kerrville Municipal Auditorium.
The Jaycees offered the following festivities in 1970: a parade, a decorated bike contest, a barbecue to be held in Louise Hays Park, a dunking booth, and, for the first time reported, a big fireworks display.
“Richard Ferris is in charge [of the fireworks]. The Jaycees said they ‘blew their budget’ on fireworks this year, with more than an half-hour of entertainment planned.”
July 4th, 1980 had canoe races sponsored by the V.F.W.; a barbecue held by the Jaycees; and political stumping by candidates.
I liked this item reported in 1990: “anyone attends can help the parade by bringing a boom box or radio, because KERV/KRVL will be broadcasting marching music for the parade.” I’m guessing they couldn’t get a marching band to perform in the summer, when school was not in session.
Also in 1990: “from 7:30 to ‘dark thirty’ the Kerr Pops will hold a concert which will be the last scheduled event before the fireworks display, which is set to begin at exactly 9:37 pm.” Fireworks that year were sponsored by the Tipton-Carson Distributing Company and the Women’s Division of the Kerrville Area Chamber of Commerce.
This format continued for many years, with a pops concert followed by a fireworks display at dark thirty. Parades were rare.
In 2012 a new format was introduced for the community celebrations: "Kerrville's 4th on the River." This new idea has taken several forms, including making the event one where admission was charged. One year the celebration was not actually on July 4. Another year faced the obstacle of having Louis Hays Park closed for renovations.
In 2012 the performers were John Wolfe, Monte Montgomery, JB & the Moonshine Band, Stoney LaRue, and the New Buddy Holly Band.
In 2013, Robert Earl Keen joined the line up, and for several years has been the headline act for the celebration.
This year's celebration will be held at Louise Hays Park, and will feature performances by Brent Ryan, Fred Eaglesmith, Bruce Robison, and Robert Earl Keen. The event is free and open to the public, and performances start at 4 pm. There will also be a fireworks display at 9:30 pm, sponsored again by Mamacita's Restaurant.
Kerr County has celebrated the Fourth of July in many different ways, during times of economic hardship, war, and political division. Coming together as a community has been a line one can trace all of the way back to the very first days of Kerr County.

Joe Herring Jr. is a Kerrville native who enjoys community celebrations. This story originally appeared in the July 2017 issue of Hill Country Culture magazine.

700 Block of Water Street, Kerrville, mid-1950s
A poster of this image is available HERE
Click on any image to enlarge

Because I've spent most of my working hours in the 600 block of Water Street, downtown from my point of view starts at the print shop and faces toward Pampell's and the spot where the Sid Peterson Memorial Hospital once stood. That means I stand at the print shop and look southeast and view downtown.

700 Block of Water Street, Kerrville, mid-1950s
A poster of this image is available HERE

Others, of course, would view "downtown" from different areas. If you lived on Earl Garrett Street, downtown is facing along that street looking toward the river. For others, Sidney Baker might be the entry to downtown. A friend suggests the print shop is actually on the "Clay Street trailhead," a point of view that begins at the intersection of Water and Clay streets, and looks northeast, completely ignoring the framework of what I consider 'downtown.'
It all depends upon your point of view.
My point of view frames downtown Kerrville in my mind, and it's probably why I prefer images of downtown taken from the 600 block of Water Street, where our shop stands, facing toward the 700 block, where Pampell's and the Schreiner building stand.
Going through some photographs recently given to me, I saw a number of images showing how much the view from my block toward the 700 block has changed, even in my lifetime. (I was born here in 1961.)
The 700 block of Water Street was a busy place when I was a kid.

700 block of Water Street, Kerrville, mid-1950s
A poster of this image is available HERE

On the river side of Water Street, the block started with Pampell's and ended with the Charles Schreiner Bank. I'm old enough to remember the sons who ran each: Milton Pampell, who was the son of J. L. Pampell; and Louis Schreiner, who was the son of Charles Schreiner.
Between those two establishments were around a dozen businesses. Next to Pampell's was Brehmer's Jewelers, owned by our neighbors, Mr. and Mrs. Leroy Brehmer. Two of our family friends from church worked there: Irene Arreola and Doris Chenault.
The Wares had a nice shoe store on that block, with a device which would measure your foot. It was a platform that you stood upon, with a small railing. You'd put your sock-covered foot into a rectangle shaped indention in the floor of the device, and the machine would measure the width and length of your foot, with the result showing up on some type of screen. It was very modern, and I thought it was amazing.

700 Block of Water Street, Kerrville, 1920s
I have the Victrola sign pictured in the photo.
A poster of this image is available HERE

The Arcadia Theater was in that block, too, and my friends and I spent many a long Saturday there watching matinee screenings of westerns and comedies. The floor was always sticky and made a distinct sound as you shuffled to your seat; the seats had a noteworthy smell, too. I think we have some of those theater seats in one of our warehouses, now. They likely smell the same as they did then.
Along that block you could find the offices of the Kerrville Mountain Sun, with the Salter family hard at work. Mrs. Camilla Salter, the publisher, was so nice. I seldom walked that way without stopping in to say hello. She knew everyone in town and she knew what everyone was talking about, too.
There were a lot of other businesses on that side of the street, too. Dress shops and barber shops and pharmacies.

700 Block of Water Street, Kerrville, circa 1938

At the end of the block was the Charles Schreiner Bank, and I have two clear memories of the place. First, the door had a bronze plaque which read "Charles Schreiner Banker, Unincorporated;" and two, the desk of Louis Schreiner, just to the left of the front door. He saw everyone who came in, which is not a bad thing for the owner to do. I don't remember him ever speaking to me, but I do remember him looking up from his work as I opened the door.
Across Water Street was the Schreiner department store, which was huge and quite fancy. As a child, I always felt a bit out of place there. Perhaps it was a little too fancy for me.
Heading back toward Sidney Baker along Water you passed by Winn's (which in an earlier life was Lehmann's). Winn's had many things a youngster would want: comics, slingshots, toys, and candy. You could by an Icee drink at the little cafe at the back, which was a great treat on a hot summer afternoon. It was a good variety store.

700 Block of Water Street, Kerrville, 2017

700 Block of Water Street, Kerrville, July 2017,
taken by yours truly

Past Winn's was the J. C. Penney store. Many of us remember that crowded store, and the pneumatic tubes that carried change and orders back and forth overhead. Most of my school clothes came from this store.
Then, on the corner, was the Sid Peterson Memorial Hospital. It was quite a place and we spent a lot of time exploring its seven stories and basement. Fewer doors were locked then than are today and we downtown kids wandered everywhere, quite often to places we should not have visited.
I hope you enjoy the photographs and I hope these few paragraphs will inspire a memory or two of your own.
Until next week, all the best.

Joe Herring Jr. is a Kerrville native who has fond memories of downtown Kerrville.

Historic Photos Store Update: A friend pointed out the online store was charging freight for every item ordered, which meant the shipping charges were SUPER EXPENSIVE. This is now fixed, I think. These ship out of California and North Carolina from plants specializing in archival-quality large format printing (they can print BIG posters). If anyone else has problems with the store, please let me know.

A postcard featuring the Ave-Cot Water Thrill Show, late 1950s.
A poster of this image is available by clicking HERE
Click on any image to enlarge

My son and I swam in the river at Louise Hays Park this past Tuesday evening, between the bridge and the dam, where the water is deep. The river temperature was perfect, not too warm or cold. The evening sun was still quite warm, and the cypress trees along the bank cast long shadows across the water. It was a great time to swim, and that is a great place to swim.

Skier and boats, after the turn by dam
at Louise Hays Park

After work, in the early evening, that part of the river is not too crowded. There were a lot of kids near the dam, as always. A few adults were in the water, too, including a pair of gentlemen who were testing beverage holders of their own design, made of pieces of styrofoam swimming noodles, held together with zip ties. The two prototypes I saw looked to be performing well.
A pair of teenagers were paddle boarding near us with mixed success. All was going well until the young man attempted to hop from his paddle board to the one his girlfriend was using. Both ended up in the water.

Flag Bearers, Ave-Cot Water Thrill Show

The park itself was busier than it has been in past years: the river trail brings out a lot of folks. We saw people walking dogs, riding bicycles, and in one case, a woman riding a bicycle with a dog in a bag. Both the dog and the woman seemed happy.
That part of the park and that part of the river were tranquil that evening. Restful.
There was a time, though, when that little stretch of river was quite busy, and a crowd lined the river bank, filling up stone bleachers below the Sidney Baker Street bridge.
Though the lake made by the dam in Louise Hays Park is deep, it's also very narrow. Looking at it today, it's hard to believe this spot was once the venue for a daring water ski show.

Ski boats racing downriver,
Louise Hays Park

The Ave-Cot Water Thrill Show was produced by Cotton Eldridge and his wife, Ava, in the late 1950s. During the 1959 July Fourth celebration, hosted by the Kerrville Jaycees, the "Water Thrill Show" was performed nightly, with an advertised price of "50 cents per car," though an afternoon matinee show was free to the public.
"A crowd of about 200 people came away from a preview performance of the Ave-Cot Water Thrill Show impressed by the variety and daring of the acts," one newspaper reported.
"Cotton's jumping boats, which he takes over the ramp and jumps into a circle of fire as a grand finale, are believed to be unique in the water show field.
"Star of the show, besides Eldridge himself, is Jimmy Simmonds, who does most of the fancy jumps, works in the clown acts, and drives one of the jumping boats.

Water Ski Grandstand Louise Hays Park Kerrville

The old stone grandstand, near the
Sidney Baker Street Bridge

"The show opens with some flashy turns by the tow boats, with Eldridge driving one, and Herman Gadecke driving the other.
"Then come the flag bearers on skis. They are Mrs. Fred Bernhard, April Clover, Mrs. Clifton Mackey, and Mary Dyer. Sue Dale Simmonds and Mrs. Alton Fairchild will take turns with the flag bearers.
"Creed Blevins wowed the first nighters with a high dive off of the bridge. This will be a regular part of the show.
"Freddie Bernhard, who takes part in several acts, did a spectacular demonstration of slalom skiing, shoe skiing, and barefoot skiing. He is considered one of the outstanding slalom skiers (one ski) in the nation.

Ski boat churning the water,
Louise Hays Park

"Bernhard, Simmonds, Blevins and Clifton Mackey dressed up as farmers for the clown act.

Back Swan by Sarah Johnston
and Jimmy Simmonds

"Bobby Solomon and Johnny Page, elementary school youngsters, put on an slalom skiing demonstration to show that skiing can be done at an early age.
"Taking part in the ballerina number were Irene Fischer, Mrs. Mackey, Mrs. Eldridge, and Mrs. Richard Pachall.
"One of the more daring stunts was a back swan from the shoulders of Simmonds by Sarah Jane Johnston done while he was skiing."
As I swam in the quiet water with my son this past week, I tried to picture boats and skiers and ramps and hoops of fire in that tiny spot. The turn by the dam would be very tight, even for one skier. Some of the photos show four skiers behind one boat.
I tried to imagine the noise of boat motors, the smell of exhaust, the choppy wake of speedboats, the sight of skiers skimming the water.

Kerrville's Louise Hays Park, late 1950s

Louise Hays Park, late 1950s, with Water Ski shack by river,
and the Blue Bonnet Hotel across river.
A poster of this image is available by clicking HERE

I do remember riding in my parent's boat at that same spot; I was very little. My Mom skied slalom as my Dad drove the boat. (They were not part of the Ave-Cot show. They were just a couple of twenty-somethings who liked to ski. The Louise Hays Park was convenient to the print shop.)
I remember the dam getting closer and closer as Dad drove fast toward it. I remember Mom skiing behind the boat. I'm sure I closed my eyes as we made that turn just before the dam.
Until next week, all the best.

Joe Herring Jr. is a Kerrville native who last went water skiing with his father and his son, years ago. This column originally appeared in the Kerrville Daily Times July 15, 2017.

Kerrville, approaching on State Highway 16, from south of the Guadalupe River
Click on any image to enlarge

Heart o' The Hills Inn

A poet once suggested it would be a gift to see ourselves as others see us, though I would likely want to leave that gift unopened, locked in a closet, underneath a tarp or two.

Schreiner's Mill

Since its earliest days our county has worked to transform how others see it, whether from the exaggerated language of various newspapermen or the efforts of chambers of commerce, service clubs, and even sermons from local pulpits. Like every other community, we want to look good!
One method used to make Kerr County look good is quite clever because it presents a picturesque view of our county and asks others to endorse that view as they share it with others. I enjoy collecting samples of this method, and they do make our community look better.
Postcards showing life here tend to illustrate the good things about our part of the world: the river, examples of local industry, various civic monuments, grand views of hills and sky.

Starr Bryden shot of Texas Highway 16 near Medina

Bryden's of SH 16

Cascade Pool

The earliest postcards in my collection are printed in black and white, or in a sepia color. Some were printed in Germany, which must have caused a controversy, because others are marked "Not Printed in Germany." Those were printed at the turn of the last century, and they were printed right here in Kerrville. As a printer this made me chuckle, because all of the local printers I know still want everything to be printed here in town.

Inn of the Hills

Postcards showing lodging facilities are quite common in my Kerr County collection of postcards, though even these can tell a story. I have several postcards showing the St. Charles Hotel, which once stood on the corner of Sidney Baker Street and Water Street, opposite Water Street from Pampell's. Until recently the Sid Peterson Memorial Hospital stood there; today the site is a parking lot.

Kerrville from Tivy Mountain

The postcards showing the St. Charles are interesting because they document the changes made to the building over time. Built in 1883, the hotel was originally a two-story frame structure. Frame additions were made over time, and then around World War I a third story was added, and the exterior was covered in stucco and made to look more modern. The building was gone by 1936, having stood for around 53 years.
Postcards showing the building range from black and white images to colorized images; some are photorealistic and some are almost abstract, as if they represent the idea of the hotel rather than how the structure actually appeared.

Water Street
a poster of this scene is available
by clicking HERE

The Blue Bonnet Hotel

Pioneer photographer Starr Bryden also published postcards of the area. While he did offer shots of local landmarks like the post office and various churches, he also published many scenic images of the hill country. Many of his shots were made at great effort, taken from the very top of hills or from the edge of cliffs. Knowing that Bryden had some physical limitations after a fight with tuberculosis, and also remembering the technology with which he worked, these photographs are amazing.

Kerr County's 3rd Courthouse

Early postcards also show local industry. I have several postcards showing wool wagons, where three wagons were hitched together and pulled by a team of oxen or mules. This was the most efficient way to get wool to market from the outlying ranches of our county (and counties nearby); Kerrville was the marketplace for these fibers and also was the railhead for transporting the clips to national markets. I cannot imagine the difficulties the drivers of these wagons faced, traveling over unpaved roads, carrying a ton (or tons) of freight, trying to control the movements of many animals.

West Texas Fair 1907

Many of the local postcards in my collection were never mailed. I suppose they were bought as keepsakes.
Others, though, have short messages to a loved one; with limited space they read like tweets on Twitter. Most of them say a variation of "this place is lovely and I wish you were here, too."
Until next week, all the best.

Joe Herring Jr. is a Kerrville native who collects historical Kerrville and Kerr county items. This column originally appeared in the Kerrville Daily Times July 22, 2017.

A look up Water Street in the 1950s,
taken from the roof of the Blue Bonnet Hotel
Click on any image to enlarge

What if you could time travel back to the mid-1950s and look up and down Water Street?
Thankfully, you won't have to fire up your flux-capacitor-equipped DeLorean to do this; an unknown photographer took two photos that show Water Street from above.
These two photos were taken from the tallest structures on Water Street at the time: the Sid Peterson Memorial Hospital and the Blue Bonnet Hotel. Both are now gone.

The Blue Bonnet Hotel
(The above photo was taken
from its roof.)

The Sid Peterson Memorial Hospital stood at the eastern corner of Water and Sidney Baker streets, opposite Water Street from Pampell's. The Blue Bonnet Hotel stood at the southern corner of Water and Earl Garrett streets, opposite Water Street from Francisco's Restaurant. Both sites are now parking lots.
The photo taken from the top of the eight-story Blue Bonnet Hotel shows, in the 700 block of Water Street, Schreiner Company, Lehmann's, J. C. Penney, and the Sid Peterson Memorial Hospital.
The Schreiner Company building is mostly unchanged in appearance from then until today. It's interesting to look at the roof of the old building, because the story of its additions and remodeling is still visible. It has undergone many changes since it was first built.
The building that housed Lehmann's started as Schreiner's wool warehouse, and once had a rail spur connecting it to the rails that ran along North Street and Schreiner Street. When I was a boy, this building housed Winn's, a variety store.
The old J. C. Penney building was built in the mid-1920s on what had once been a part of the grounds of the St. Charles Hotel. I remember shopping for school clothes there when I was a student at Starkey Elementary, many moons ago.
Then, of course, the Sid Peterson Memorial Hospital. I notice it still has the Humble Oil gas station on the ground floor, that one wing is only five stories, while the other is six. I believe a roof-top garden was envisioned for the lower wing, but I cannot see any evidence of such in the photograph, aside from what looks like railings around the edge of the lower roof. The hospital was built in 1949, so this image shows it not long after it was constructed.
Beyond Sidney Baker Street, the Peterson Garage is shown, along with the other commercial buildings along the block. I was surprised to see a Texaco station at the corner of Clay and Water Streets.
Various other buildings can be seen in the distance. The sign for H-E-B is seen, when that store faced Quinlan Street; I can see the steeple of Calvary Baptist Church, there on Jefferson Street. City Hall is visible, with the fire station next door; and in the distance the larger Schreiner Wool Warehouse on McFarland Street.
Town looks busy in the photograph, which was taken in the afternoon in the autumn or winter; there are no leaves on the trees.

Kerrville's Water Street in the 1950s,
taken from the roof of the Sid Peterson Memorial Hospital

The photograph taken from the roof of the Sid Peterson Memorial Hospital, looking toward the Blue Bonnet Hotel, looks to be taken in the same season, but in the morning. In it one can see the line of offices along the 700 block of Water Street, including the sign for Central Drugs and the Charles Schreiner Bank. Across the street, in the 800 block, is the Blue Bonnet Hotel, the Vogue, and Reiter's Automotive. In the far distance you can see the outline of the Veteran's Administration Hospital building.

Sid Peterson Memorial Hospital
(The above photo was taken
from its roof.)

The Charles Schreiner Bank portion of the image has two interesting things to mention: the old clock, which was a long-time part of downtown Kerrville, and a guy leaning on a parking meter. In almost every image I have of this corner, people are hanging out, usually in conversation. This must have been a spot where socializing was expected. While this building was sheathed in an space-age aluminum facade when I was a kid, the building underneath was unchanged. I remember walking up the creaking steps to the second floor on an errand for my father. It looked like an old movie set in there. The windows were open, but the facade blocked the view (and most of the breeze).
That building is gone, as are most in the photograph. The site of the Blue Bonnet Hotel and the Schreiner Bank are now parking lots.
Until next week, all the best.

Joe Herring Jr. is a Kerrville native who wouldn't mind time travel as long as he could get back home in time for supper. This column originally appeared in the Kerrville Daily Times on July 29, 2017.

West Texas Fairgrounds, Kerrville, around 1905
Click on any image to enlarge

Starting in 1899, our community produced an event called the West Texas Fair every summer. It was a big deal, and continued for several decades.
The event was led by the movers and shakers in town and drew a big crowd each year. The officers for the 1905 fair were Charles Schreiner, president; H. Remschel, vice-president; Charles Real, secretary-treasurer. The association was organized and stock sold; stockholders held an annual meeting. While I think the event itself was not intended to be overly profitable, the community benefitted from the visitors it attracted.

Kerrville West Texas Fairgrounds grandstand

Grandstands, West Texas Fair

It was kind of a county fair, though I think Kerr County had greater ambitions for their event, hoping to include communities to our west in the festivities. There were horse races, parades, ball games, plus traditional county fair contests. Ribbons were awarded for everything from best garden produce to baking and canning.
Beyond those traditional offerings, at the 1905 fair, there was also an "Art Department," chaired by a local artist, James Spicer. "Those who have fine paintings and other works of art," a news article stated, "can safely trust them to his care for no one knows better than he the value of such things."
There was also an "Educational Department," where "schools of all Texas are cordially invited to enter the competition."
Later years included a Chautauqua, a kind of educational lecture series. Baseball games were scheduled between neighboring communities, which probably helped attendance from those communities.
In 1908, one of the planned "amusements" was a "grand speed contest between automobiles," which took place on the horse track. "This will be the first event of its kind ever seen in Kerr County and will be well worth seeing." The first automobiles came to Kerrville that same year, so many of those attending the 1908 event had probably never seen an automobile before.

Exhibit Hall, West Texas Fair

J. E. Grinstead, a local newspaper publisher from the turn of the last century, described the West Texas Fair “whose home is in a delightful park adjoining the city limits, with the Guadalupe River upon one side and majestic oak-clad mountains on the other, is among the chief attractions of Kerrville, and is an enterprise which is the pride of the people of this entire section, and has and will continue to be a strong element in the development of our county and its resources. The exhibition of 1904 was a pronounced success from every viewpoint. And the importance of the work will increase as the country develops.”
Twenty years ago Warren Klein, a rancher in Mountain Home, sent me his memories of the West Texas Fair:
"The West Texas Fair was held each year around the 4th of July." This fair took place in grand buildings built especially for the fair. The site was on the river side of the intersection of Water Street and Junction Highway, called Five Points, about where [Wells Fargo] Bank is today.
"One thing I remember about the fair of 1915: a man had an airplane and he would take people up for a ride. The thing I remembered about the airplane was that it didn't have a self-starter. The propeller was at the back of the plane. In order to start it, a person had to turn the propeller by hand, but he wanted 'back up,' so he joined hands with 6 other men. One thing that still puzzles me today is where my brand new straw hat went when that plane started!"

Foot Ball Game, West Texas Fair, 1907

One postcard from the 1907 fair shows what looks to be a basketball game, played on the horse track in front of the grandstand. Basketball nets and backboards can be plainly seen, and a ball can be seen in the air.
The puzzling thing about the postcard? It has this headline: "Foot Ball Game at West Texas Fair, Kerrville, Texas 1907." While it's possible the game being played was football, it's also possible the printer made a mistake. Strike that -- it's obviously a game of football, played on a horse-track basketball court.
Until next week, all the best.

Joe Herring Jr. is a Kerrville native who stands in solidarity with the printer of that 1907 postcard. This column originally appeared in the Kerrville Daily Times August 5, 2017.

Pampell's, at the corner of Water and today's Sidney Baker Street, in Kerrville.
Taken around 1905.
Click on any image to enlarge

When I last wrote about Pampell's, back in May of this year, I started with this sentence: "It's hard to walk by Pampell's these days and see it vacant."
A few days before I wrote that column, a group of us toured the building, from the dark basement to the top floor, wondering if it would be an appropriate site for a Kerr County Museum. The old building carried a lot of nostalgic memories for many of us, and those may have motivated the tour that day.

Visitors in front of Kerrville's Pampell's around 1905

Young visitors in front of Pampell's
around 1905

Then a few weeks later I learned that the POPO Family Restaurant intended to open there. It was good news: they have a good track record and a loyal customer base. Since then people have been busy in the old building, and Thursday's edition of this newspaper says they're open in the evenings this week, with a grand opening planned for August 28.
I'm thankful for the entrepreneurial spirit of the entire POPOs crew, not only for opening a new business in downtown Kerrville, but also for writing a new chapter in the long history of Pampell's, and of its home at the corner of Water and Sidney Baker streets.
That old building has been there a very long time, since at least the 1880s, when a hotel was built on the site by William and Julia Gregory. My friend Lanza Teague, who is related to the Gregorys, has a good photo of the Gregory Hotel, and William and Julia can be seen in front on the porch. Click here to see the photo.
Around 1900 the property was sold to J. L. Pampell, who moved his 'Ice Cream Parlor and Confectionery' into the building. For a time Pampell continued to rent the upstairs rooms to guests, but he soon remodeled the upstairs into one big room, which was used for community events like school graduations and theatrical productions. In time he added a movie projector, and some of the first movies in Kerrville were shown upstairs at Pampell's. That big upstairs room saw concerts, 'operas,' and even square dances.

Pampell's C C Soda bottle

In 1916 Pampell acquired the franchise for the Coca Cola agency for this section, which was a pioneering move at the time. Pampell also bottled their own 'soda pops' in a bottling factory at the rear of the building. By 1948 the bottling works could produce 1560 bottles of soda per hour.
Later Pampell added a Rexall pharmacy to his operations, and hired two pharmacists "on duty at all hours."
In addition, "Pampell's Home Made Candies" were a popular gift in this section of Texas.

A postcard showing the interior
of Pampell's, around 1910

The building went through a lot of remodeling projects. In the earliest images, it's a frame structure with wooden siding. In the late 1920s, the wooden siding has been covered with stucco. And then another remodeling: the exterior was covered with bricks, and inside the second story was converted to a mezzanine.
As I reported here earlier, I'm old enough to remember Milton Pampell, son of J. L. Pampell. And I have many happy memories of the soda fountain at Pampell's from when I was a boy, in the 1960s.

Kerrville's Water Street around 1928

Pampell's was a drug store and soda fountain in my youth. Mr. and Mrs. Bob Hood ran the store then, followed later by Steve Ackman. When my children were young, Sandy and Jon Wolfmueller ran an antiques store in the building, but the soda fountain remained; during that time I became reacquainted with chocolate malted milkshakes.
Later Ken Wilson purchased the property and spent a fortune renovating and shoring up the structure. The building, I think, has had several owners since Wilson.
Now a new restaurant opens in the old place. I think POPOs will do great, and I look forward to stopping by soon.
Until next week, all the best.

Joe Herring Jr. is a Kerrville native who enjoyed many a chocolate malted milkshake at Pampell's. Perhaps too many. This column originally appeared in the Kerrville Daily Times August 12, 2017.

J. C. Penney store, downtown Kerrville, 1928
Click on any image to enlarge

In the years just before the Great Depression, downtown Kerrville saw many changes, especially on Water Street in the downtown area. It must have been a busy time for builders, because many memorable buildings were constructed in the 1920s.
And then the stock market crashed.

Blue Bonnet Hotel, Kerrville

The largest building constructed during those busy years before 1929 was the Blue Bonnet Hotel, which opened in 1927. Originally five stories tall, it was enlarged to eight stories within just a few years, growing from 80 to 140 rooms. The old hotel stood at the corner of southern corner of Water and Earl Garrett streets. It was torn down in the early 1970s.
Kerr County built a new courthouse in 1926, and that structure remains on the courthouse square, though it now has an annex which was built in the late 1970s. There is a persistent rumor the 1926 courthouse was built because of a fire, though that's not true. It is true the commissioners court voted in 1925 to build a new courthouse for "the safety and permanency of the records of the county," which would include "fireproof vaults." The old courthouse was offered to the public, and materials from the old building found their way to many local sites, including the stone fence along Highway 27 in front of Schreiner University. The commissioners let the voters decide, and 953 votes were cast; the new courthouse won by 227 votes. Construction finished in 1927.

4th Kerr County Courthouse

J. C. Penney's built a new store on Water Street in the late 1920s, and the store was still located there when I was a boy in the 1960s. This was the store where we purchased our back to school clothes, and I have fond memories of the store and the folks who worked there. There was a mezzanine in the back of the store; the shoe department was beneath the mezzanine. I vaguely remember children's clothes being sold on the mezzanine. Orders and cash were delivered to the office via a system of carriers and cables, and change was returned by the same system. When the store moved to its current location across the river in the mall, the fixtures were sold, and my parents bought some of the items: We still use the sturdy tables that once displayed merchandise at Penney's at our print shop as work tables. They still show their original paint color, a dark beige straight from the 1920s. This building was torn down during one of the many expansions of the hospital, sometime around 1980.

The Arcadia Theater, late 1920s

The Arcadia Theater opened to great fanfare on June 29, 1926, and the first movie shown there was "Irene." I have an old movie poster frame from the original Arcadia on display in our office, along with a poster for "Irene." The Arcadia was built to seat 1,000 people, which was approximately a quarter of the population of Kerrville at the time. I've always thought that was very ambitious. While the structure looks very different today, there are plans to use the theater in the future, plans I really hope come to pass.

Poster for Irene

The Arcadia looked very different then: it featured a Spanish mission façade, and the 16x40 foot 'arcade' was accented with rough plaster and hand-hewn beams. In the 'arcade' were seven display cases. Seating was different from what most of us remember from our youth. In addition to the 'orchestra' and balcony seats, there were also eight 'loges' with five chairs each. Smoking was allowed in the balcony only.
Not only did the theater have a movie screen, it also had a small stage and an orchestra pit with a pipe organ.
Pampell's got a nice facelift during the late 1920s: it began as a frame building with wooden siding; later the siding was covered in stucco. And then, a year or so before the Great Crash, it gained a nice brick veneer with other architectural elements. Several of the smaller office spaces in the 700 block of Water Street were also constructed in the 1920s.

Cascade Pool, downtown Kerrville

Another well-beloved spot which appeared in 1929 was the Cascade Pool, which was at the river bluff at the end of Earl Garrett Street (which then extended to the river). This pool closed in 1959, but generations of swimmers have fond memories of the place. It was part of the Kerrville Amusement Company, which also owned and operated the Arcadia Theater. Sadly, it was a segregated pool, so it wasn't available to everyone.
The 1920s brought many new buildings to downtown Kerrville, and several of those remain, having survived not only the Great Depression, but also 90+ years of change.
Until next week, all the best.

Joe Herring Jr is a Kerrville native who wishes his grandmother Mabel Daffern a very happy birthday this Sunday. This column originally appeared in the Kerrville Daily Times August 19, 2017.

Over the Top

Saturday Link Pack

River trails

Kerr county women who changed our community

Pampell's: The Sweetest Corner in Town

An Autumn Kerrville Afternoon in 1956

Dedicated To Their Memory

Every H-E-B employee in a single photograph

Solving the Mysteries of Kerr County Photographs

Two newly discovered photos of Kerrville in 1897

A snowfall in Kerrville in 1923

A Grand Hotel in the Heart of Kerrville

Celebrating July Fourth in Kerr County since 1856

Downtown Kerrville when I was a boy

Kerrville's Ave-Cot Water Thrill Show

Kerr County as seen in Postcards

Kerrville's Water Street in the 1950s

Kerrville's West Texas Fair

A New Chapter at Pampell's

The Roaring 20s in Downtown Kerrville