DUANE
Duane's take
Now this one comes straight from the official marker — let me tell it to you the way Castro County tells it. Nazareth, Texas. Population: enough folks to need a good general store.
And for ninety years, starting in 1905, that's exactly what they had. It began with a man named Fred Heidgerken, who built the original wood-frame structure — the kind of building that did double duty from the ground up. Main floor open for home shopping needs, fresh meat, dairy products.
And if you wanted to know where Fred himself was? Just look up. Living quarters right above the store.
Practical man, Fred Heidgerken. Now, wood-frame was all well and good for a while. But in 1928, Ed Kern and Conrad Schulte decided Nazareth deserved something sturdier.
They built a new brick and concrete building — and not just any building. The first brick and concrete building in town. Let that settle for a second.
The first. Which means when people in Nazareth talked about that building, everybody knew exactly which one you meant. The post office moved in starting in 1937 and stayed right there until 1980.
So for four decades and change, you could pick up your mail and your groceries in the same trip. Efficient. But here's where the story gets a little more interesting.
Because the Home Mercantile wasn't just a store — it was the town's living room. Weekly poker games. Amateur boxing matches.
A community bulletin board. And, the marker notes with admirable specificity, occasional liquor sales from the back door. The back door.
Now, nobody's sayin' anything. The marker just says occasional. From the back door.
Draw your own conclusions. The store itself closed in 1995. Ninety years after Fred Heidgerken first swung those doors open, that chapter ended.
But here's the thing about a building that's been the heartbeat of a community that long — it doesn't just go quiet. Social and cultural events of the community continue to be celebrated there to this day. Some places outlive their original purpose by becoming something bigger.
The Home Mercantile in Nazareth is one of those places.
What the marker says
For 90 years, starting in 1905, Nazareth residents purchased goods here. The original wood-frame structure, built by Fred Heidgerken with living quarters above, opened its main floor to home shopping needs and the storing and selling of fresh meat and dairy products. In 1928, Ed Kern and Conrad Schulte built a new brick and concrete building, the first in town, that came to include the post office from 1937-1980. The building also hosted such social activities as weekly poker games, amateur boxing matches, a community bulletin board, and occasional liquor sales from the back door. While the store closed in 1995, social and cultural events of the community continue to be celebrated here. (2014)