DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the Hackbarth Building in Sealy, Austin County, Texas. Now, every good story has a beginning, and this one starts on a ship pulling into Galveston in 1846. Two German natives — F.
W. Hackbarth, Fritz to his friends, and his wife Carolyn, born a Krampitz — stepped off that vessel with their two sons and the particular kind of resolve that only crosses an ocean once. They put down roots in Austin County, where Fritz farmed and ranched, and the family kept right on growing.
Four more children came along, including a boy born in 1849 they named F. W. Hackbarth, Jr.
Now, Junior — and I mean that with all due respect — turned out to be a carpenter by trade. A man who understood wood, and weight, and what it takes to build something that lasts. In 1885, he opened the Hackbarth Lumber Company, one of the earliest enterprises the town of Sealy ever saw.
Before long, his sons Paul, Robert, and John were working alongside him, and what started as a lumberyard grew — expanded, really — to include a brick plant and then concrete masonry production. That family wasn't just supplying building materials. They were supplying Sealy itself.
The concrete masonry they produced went into commercial buildings completed for F. W. Hackbarth and John Hackbarth in 1907.
It went into an ice house. It went into the Paul and Mahala Hackbarth house, finished in 1911. The Hackbarths were, in a very literal sense, laying the foundation of a town.
But here's where things get interesting. F. W.
Hackbarth, Jr. owned a whole block of frame buildings right on Main Street. And in 1907 — the same busy year — he made a decision. He razed those frame buildings.
All of them. And in their place, he raised something new: a concrete block structure, built from the very masonry blocks his own factory had produced. The building was something to see.
Load-bearing masonry blocks. A canopy with iron column supports. An angled corner.
And for the storefront facade, he ordered cast iron from George L. Mesker and Company, all the way out of Evansville, Indiana. Also in 1907, Citizens State Bank formed and moved into part of that new building.
It started with capital of twenty-five thousand dollars, assets of forty-six thousand, R. A. Engelking as president, and John Hackbarth sitting on the board of directors.
The bank did well enough that by 1917, it had outgrown the space entirely. Over the years, the building took on many lives. Fred Frimel ran his jewelry business there.
Hackbarth General Store and Grocery filled its shelves. During World War II, this was where Sealy's Red Cross Office operated and where War Bond Sales took place — a building that once sold lumber and concrete now doing its part for a nation at war. And from 1942 until the late 1990s, the presses of the Sealy News ran right there inside those same walls.
From a ship in Galveston harbor in 1846 to a newspaper rolling off the press nearly a century and a half later — one family, one block, one building that the marker rightly says exhibits significant craftsmanship and recounts noteworthy history and commerce of the community. Some things are built to last, and some things just plain do.
What the marker says
German natives F. W. (Fritz) and Carolyn (Krampitz) Hackbarth arrived in Galveston in 1846 with their two sons. They settled in Austin County, where Fritz farmed and ranched, and the couple had four more children, including F. W. Hackbarth, Jr. (born 1849). He was a carpenter, who in 1885 opened the Hackbarth Lumber Company, one of Sealy's earliest enterprises. He was joined in the business by his sons Paul, Robert and John. The lumberyard supplied materials for the early growth and development of Sealy, expanding to include a brick plant and then concrete masonry production. This material was used in commercial buildings completed for F. W. Hackbarth and John Hackbarth in 1907, other businesses including an ice house, and the Paul and Mahala Hackbarth house in 1911. F. W. Hackbarth, Jr. owned a block of frame buildings on Main Street, which he razed in 1907 to erect a new concrete block structure. The building features load-bearing masonry blocks produced at their factory, a canopy with iron column supports, an angled corner, and a cast iron fa��ade storefront ordered from George L. Mesker and Company of Evansville, Indiana. Citizens State Bank formed in 1907 and occupied part of Hackbarth's new building, with capital of $25,000, assets of $46,000, R. A. Engelking as president, and John Hackbarth on the board of directors. The bank outgrew its location by 1917. The building had many commercial uses, notably Fred Frimel's Jewelry and Hackbarth General Store and Grocery. During World War II, this was the site of a Red Cross Office and War Bond Sales. The Sealy News was printed here from 1942 until the late 1990s. The building exhibits significant craftsmanship and recounts noteworthy history and commerce of the community.