The
Holz-Forshage-Krueger Building (1908, 1926) faces southeast
at 472 West San Antonio Street, the main commercial street
in New Braunfels, just four blocks from the Main Plaza. A
number of historic houses and commercial buildings surround
the property. The building is divided into two parts: the
western part consists of a 2-story brick building dating
from 1908 with alterations in 1926; the eastern part
includes a 1-story brick building with stucco facade dating
from 1926. The south facade of the 2 story building is
divided into five bays denoted by strong 1and 2-story
pilasters rising to a curvilinear parapet that peaks at the
centerpoint of the facade. Single and paired 4/4 wooden
windows mark each bay on the second floor; large plate glass
windows with divided transoms still indicate each bay on the
first floor with the last bay occupied by an overhead garage
door. The south facade of the 1-story building is divided
into three bays, each with a large plate glass window/doors
and divided transom. The building is in good condition with
a high degree of integrity. It is now being adapted by the
owner for downtown housing.
The Holz-Forshage-Krueger
Building faces southeast on West San Antonio Street, the
terminus of the main commercial street in New Braunfels.
Directly across the street is the Karbach Haus which has
just been recognized locally as an historic site. Adjacent
to the Karbach Haus is the Wagenfuehr House dating from the
1870s which has recently been given to the New Braunfels
Conservation Society and is presently being used as a
museum. West of the Holz-Forshage-Krueger Building, is First
United Methodist Church which was founded March 7, 1853. To
the east side is an open lot currently being used to display
used cars. To the rear facing Mill Street is a building
circa 1880s that was part of the New Braunfels Academy (one
of the first public schools in Texas) and is now the Tax
Office for the New Braunfels Independent School District.
This building is a designated historic site. Also on
adjacent property facing Mill Street are a number of houses
circa 1880 that are being renovated to their original
appearance. The area is a focal point to the rich heritage
of New Braunfels. In addition to the rich cultural heritage
of the location, it is in a transition zone between
commercial and residential evidenced by the many beautiful
old pecan trees in the immediate vicinity.
The
Holz-Forshage-Krueger Building is a 2-story commercial brick
building typical of many built in South Texas in the early
20th century. The original 5-bay building sported brick
pilasters between sets of single and paired 4/4 wooden
windows, each under segmental arches. A distinctive
curvilinear parapet topped the building highlighted by
circular medallion over a long horizontal band of regularly
spaced corbelled brick, set slightly above a recessed panel
for showing the incised building name. The building as
constructed for Nicholas Holz in 1908 was to house the N.
Holz & Son Implement Company. The first course of the
foundation of the building is 3.5' to 4' of native limestone
upon which five courses of brick were laid for approximately
another 3 ft. before the four course 1st floor wall begins
to appear. The four layer brick wall reaches to about l4
feet before being topped by a three layer brick wall for the
2nd floor. Since a local ordinance required fireproof roofs
when built, it has a corrugated metal roof. In the interior
two wooden trusses three feet in depth running the entire
length of the building are mounted on wooden columns to
support the second floor. The second floor is one large room
with oak flooring and a large sliding door to the rear which
apparently was used for handling bulky storage items. The
original brick facade was altered in 1926 to accommodate the
new age of automobiles and still remains as altered today.
The face of the building was covered in a layer of stucco at
this time.
In 1972 a Bavarian facade
was added over the stucco by the present owner's family in
keeping with a local movement to market downtown New
Braunfels as a center of German heritage. A 1-story brick
and stucco building was added to the 2-story original
building in 1926 on the east creating a uniform linear
appearance to the base of the building. This building is
approximately 40' x 85' of concrete beam construction with a
concrete roof. This area is to be modified for use as a
garage area for the apartments and for a breezeway and
secured entrance into the 1908 structure. In order to
maintain the original authenticity of the building, both
frontal areas will continue to house retail businesses or
perhaps a display of antique autos. Behind the retail spaces
there will be three apartments and parking garage for seven
tenants. The second floor will house four apartments and
have a common patio area on the roof of the garage for the
use of all tenants. Portions of the concrete roof covering
the breezeway will be removed to offer lighting and
ventilation, but this will not affect any exterior
appearance.
The original ground floor
main facade brick arches were apparently removed during the
1926 renovation and replaced by showroom windows and a
drive-in entrance which will be retained in appearance only.
The current project will restore as many as possible of the
original windows and use windows of period design for
replacement or any new openings. There is no anticipated
change in the foundation or exterior walls other than the
addition of new windows to meet current building codes.
On the rear of the
building there will be new construction of a stairwell and
elevator that will becovered in stucco to match existing
stucco. The original metal roof needs to be replaced and
will be replaced with a corrugated metal similar to the
original. No roof line changes are anticipated.
The Holz-Forshage-Krueger
Building (1908, 1926) is a 2 story commercial building on
the principal commercial thoroughfare of downtown New
Braunfels, Comal County. In 1908, Nicholas Holz funded the
construction of the building as the site for N. Holz and Son
Implement Company. The family business dealt in farm
implements and early transportation vehicles such as buggies
and wagons. The Holz-Forshage-Krueger Building later served
as the business site for a number of significant auto
dealerships owned by several families and offering a number
of different automobile makes. The property retains a high
degree integrity with all major alterations and additions
dating to 1926, within the period of significance. The
property is eligible under Criterion C in the area of
Architecture at the local level of significance as one of
the most intact commercial buildings in New Braunfels and is
representative of the community's commercial architecture
from the early to mid 20th century.
Nicholas Holz, the
original owner of the Holz-Forshage-Krueger Building, first
acquired the property on which this building is built in
1858. Holz's business began as a blacksmith shop that
developed into providing a broader service to the largely
German agricultural community around New Braunfels. In 1908,
Holz built a new building that became a show piece on West
San Antonio Street, the main street of New Braunfels and
primary route to San Antonio on the south. Although opened
as the N. Holz & Son Implement Company, early signs indicate
that they were the dealers for Avery Plows and Studebaker
Buggies & Carriages. According to one of the old time
residents of New Braunfels, the company also sold Oakland
automobiles because she recalls that her father bought an
Oakland at this location. Holz also served as an alderman
for the city and county commissioner. One of the frequent
polling places was his home also on West San Antonio Street.
The Holz business functioned as a landmark for many small
businesses who referenced a business location as being
across the street or next to N. Holz & Son in the local
newspaper. Holz also was very active in procuring funds for
both the Indianola hurricane relief as well as the Galveston
hurricane in 1900. It appears that he was a man of great
wit--an 1873 ad offers: "For Sale: 75,000 acres of land on
the moon, 50,000 acres of land on the planet Uranus and
water power in the Pacific Ocean."
The building apparently
remained in the Holz family until 1921 when it was purchased
by Louis Forshage. There is little information available on
Forshage but it is probable that he had an interest in
Sippel Buick Company the next occupant since it was during
this period that a major addition was added and the first
story facade altered. Historic photographs from the early
1920s indicate that when the building housed the Sippel
Buick Company they apparently also handled Chevrolet
automobiles. In the mid-1920s Sippel was succeeded by Becker
Chevrolet Company. In 1934 Krueger Chevrolet bought Becker
Chevrolet when the Becker family moved and took the
Dodge/Plymouth franchise changing its name to Becker Motor
Company. Becker Motor Company, which was founded in this
building, is still in existence today as one of the oldest
Chrysler products franchises in the state.
The Krueger family was
also a vital part of the automobile business in New
Braunfels. The first Krueger dealership was started in 1928
with the Buick franchise . After the family acquired the
Chevrolet franchise in 1933, this building continued as a
home for Chevrolet products until 1936. The Krueger family
remained in the automobile business until 1994 with
Chevrolet and Mazda products. The son opened a second Mazda
dealership in South Texas in this same building in 1972.
From 1936 to 1944 the
building housed a grocery store and then in 1944 it returned
to use as an automobile dealership. During this next five
years it was home to a succession of Ford
dealerships--Swearingen-Armstrong Ford, Swearingen-Lamb
Ford, Swearingen-Bock Ford and finally Bock Motor Company
who left for new quarters in 1949. There were very no new
automobiles available until late 1946, so the existence of
the Ford dealerships at that time was primarily as a service
and parts operation and offering for sale a few used cars as
available. When Bock Motor Company left for new quarters,
the building continued its role again in the automobile
industry of New Braunfels when Liefeste Nash Company and
Leissner Auto Parts took over in 1950. It was the home for
Nash automobiles until the manufacturer's demise in the
early1950s. Thousands of new and used cars were sold from
this building.
One member of the Sippel
family who had the Buick franchise was mayor of New
Braunfels, while principals of Becker Chevrolet have been
elected to the city council and as mayor. Members of the
Krueger family have been president of the New Braunfels
Chamber of Commerce, the Jaycees and active in numerous
other civic endeavors.
The second floor on the
building has had various interesting uses including a dress
manufacturer during the 1920s, a roller skating rink for
teenagers and apartments during the 1940s. In the 1950s it
was used for the Eagles Hall and a karate school among other
things. During the 1960s and 1970s the lower floors were
used as an auto body shop, a furniture store and also an
antique store.
In 1972 a Bavarian facade
was put on the front and the interior renovated with new
office space and a modernized service department, and it
became Krueger Mazda. It remained the dealership for Mazda
until 1986 and then was reclaimed by Krueger Chevrolet,
Inc., for used car offices and storage until 1992.
The Holz-Forshage-Krueger
Building is a free-standing commercial building separated
from the primary central business district by two city
blocks and approximately four city blocks from the
courthouse and city plaza. The brick building originally
followed a common 2-part commercial block form with a highly
decorative 1-story jig-sawn awning over arched windows and
doorways. The form and its decorative features appear
similar to contemporary turn-of the-century buildings in New
Braunfels, though many were constructed of limestone or
wood. Few buildings of the turn of the century remain.
In 1926, alterations and
a 1-story addition adapted the building for a new age of
marketing and selling of automobiles. As is typical of many
small towns, automobile dealers often took existing
buildings and modified them for an expanded sales/service
operation or new products. After modifications, the
Holz-Forshage-Krueger Building resembled many of its 1- and
2-story contemporary buildings in the downtown with large
plate glass windows and a stucco facade. As a free-standing
building set away from the main commercial core, however,
the Holz-Forshage-Krueger Building created a largely
independent or self-sufficient commercial zone from the
downtown that depended more on the north-south highway
traffic on San Antonio Street than commerce in the downtown.
The generous proportion of undeveloped space surrounding the
Holz-Forshage-Krueger Building made the site ideal for the
various transportation-related businesses that occupied the
building for over 84 years because these businesses required
display space for vehicles. The building was one of the few
buildings near the central business district that was
versatile enough to serve the motoring public and
transportation industry. While much of the local economy
shifted toward tourism services in the mid to late 20th
century, the Holz-Forshage-Krueger Building remained an
automobile dealership until recent years participating only
briefly in the trend of a Bavarian theme town. The building
today is representative of the commercial architectural
development of New Braunfels in the early to mid 20th
century.
The Holz-Forshage-Krueger
Building is at the edge of the central business district
that became somewhat fragmented by the construction of
Interstate Highway 35, approximately one mile east, during
the latter part of the 20th century. With a renewed interest
in revitalizing the center city of New Braunfels, the
rehabilitation of the building into housing will be an
important catalyst for more revitalization efforts,
especially along West San Antonio Street.
The property retains a
high degree integrity with all current alterations and
additions dating to 1926, within the period of significance.
The building is one of the most intact commercial buildings
in New Braunfels from the early to mid 20th century and is
representative of the city's commercial architecture. The
property is eligible under Criterion C in the area of
Architecture at the local level of significance.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Greene, Daniel P. "New
Braunfels," in The New Handbook of Texas, Volume 4, Texas
State Historical Association, Austin, 1996.
Haas, Oscar. History of
New Braunfels and Comal County, Texas, 1844-1946. (Austin:
Steck), 1968.
Longstreth, Richard. The
Buildings of Main Street. National Trust for Historic
Preservation, The Preservation Press, Washington, DC, 1987.
The owner conducted
research in local archives on the businesses and development
of New Braunfels. He also contacted older residents of New
Braunfels to collect information on the early businesses
operating in the building.