Eikel-Prewitt Building

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Now, Georgetown has got buildings, and then it's got buildings that make you stop and crane your neck. The Eikel-Prewitt Building is the second kind.

Three stories of brick rising up in Williamson County, with cast iron pilasters standing at attention along the front and those paired, rounded windows looking out over the street like they've seen every last thing this town has ever done. And they pretty much have. This building goes back to 1893.

That's when Albert Eikel, born in 1852, had the whole thing constructed to house the Eikel Hardware Company. He wasn't cutting corners either. He brought in Henry Struve, a prominent Williamson County architect, to design it.

Struve gave him something worth keeping. A three-story brick commercial structure with details that weren't just practical, they were meant to impress. And they still do.

The Eikel Hardware Company set up shop inside those walls and did its business, and the building held its own right along with it. Then, in 1923, the Ira A. Prewitt Company purchased the building.

New name over the door, but the same sturdy bones underneath. The Prewitt Company made that address its home, and it stayed there. All the way until 1981.

That is a long stretch of commerce under one roof. These days the cast iron and the rounded windows are still there, same as Struve left them. Some buildings get torn down.

Some get forgotten. And some just quietly outlast every argument anyone ever made for doing either one. The Eikel-Prewitt Building made its case in brick back in 1893, and the case is still standing.

What the marker says

Albert Eikel (b. 1852) had this building constructed in 1893 to house the Eikel Hardware Company. The three-story, brick commercial structure was designed by prominent Williamson County architect Henry Struve. The building was purchased in 1923 by the Ira A. Prewitt Company and remained the home of that business until 1981. Prominent features include its cast iron pilasters and the paired, rounded windows. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1985