DUANE
Duane's take
The way I tell it, I'm going by what the official marker says — so let's see what it's got for us. Somewhere between 1850 and 1875, a German immigrant by the name of Henry Hofheintz put up a building in Austin. Henry was born in 1822 and lived until 1880, and whatever else you might say about the man, he built something that outlasted him by a long stretch.
The structure he raised became a grocery and dry goods store — the kind of place a neighborhood runs on. Flour, fabric, the essentials. And it kept right on serving that purpose for nearly a hundred years.
Nearly a hundred years. That's not a business, friends, that's an institution. Now, built later came a one-story addition onto the place.
That addition had a slightly different personality — used as a saloon and a residence. So you had your dry goods on one end and something a little livelier on the other. Austin's a city of range, always has been.
When Henry passed, the store didn't leave the family. It went to his eldest child, Catherine Louise, and her husband, Adolph Reissig. That's where the second name on the sign comes from.
The Reissigs carried it forward, and the property stayed in family hands all the way until 1966. Think about that arc — a building raised in the mid-1800s, held by one family clear into the 1960s. The marker calls it an important reminder of Austin's small, residential business establishments — the kind of commercial life that grew up right alongside the people who needed it.
And the building itself is noted as a fine example of German-influenced architecture, the kind you find woven through many 19th-century Texas buildings. Henry Hofheintz built it. Catherine Louise and Adolph Reissig kept it.
And it's still there telling the story — which is more than most of us can say.
What the marker says
Built between 1850 and 1875 for German immigrant Henry Hofheintz (1822-1880), this structure served as a grocery and dry goods store for nearly 100 years. Built later was the one-story addition, which was used as a saloon and a residence. Hofheintz' eldest child, Catherine Louise, and her husband, Adolph Reissig, inherited the store, and the property remained in the family until 1966. An important reminder of Austin's small, residential business establishments, the Hofheintz-Reissig Store is also a fine example of German-influenced architecture found in many 19th-century Texas buildings. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1983