J. A. Kemp Wholesale Grocery Building

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the J. A. Kemp Wholesale Grocery Building in Wichita County.

Now, some buildings just hold goods. And some buildings hold history. This one, sitting right here in Wichita County, has been doing both since 1892.

That's the year somebody laid the first brick, and what they built was no modest little storefront. The original structure measured fifty by one hundred feet, with a full basement underneath. That's a serious footprint for 1892.

The J. A. Kemp Wholesale Grocery business moved in and made itself at home, and for thirty-five years, that building was theirs.

But the people who put this place up weren't thinking small for long. By 1901, a two-story brick addition had been completed. The building was growing, same as the region around it.

Now, here's where the story takes a turn. The oil boom of the 1930s rolled through this part of Texas, and with it came the Industrial Supply Company. They took over the building and got into the business of petroleum products, supplying the area through the boom and well beyond it.

Thirty-four years they kept at it. Thirty-four years in a building that had already seen thirty-five years of groceries. That's a structure that knows how to outlast its occupants.

Somebody added onto the rear of the building in the 1940s, just to make sure there was enough room for whatever came next. And if you ever get a good look at this place, take a moment with the windows and the doors. Large arched openings, worked in sandstone, the kind of masonry that requires a skilled hand and a patient one.

All told, the building contains eighteen thousand, seven hundred and fifty square feet of space. Built in 1892. A grocery house, then an oil supply hub, additions stacked onto additions across the decades.

Some buildings just refuse to be done with their story.

What the marker says

Built in 1892, this structure housed the J. A. Kemp Wholesale Grocery business for 35 years. The building originally measured 50 by 100 feet and contained a full basement. A two-story brick addition was completed by 1901. The Industrial Supply Company occupied the building during the oil boom of the 1930s, and continued to provide petroleum products to the area for 34 years. Another addition was built onto the rear of the structure in the 1940s. The large arched windows and doors exhibit skilled masonry in sandstone. The building contains 18,750 square feet of space. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1997