L. Schwartz Company

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the L. Schwartz Company in Uvalde County. Now settle in, because this one starts on another continent entirely.

Louis Schwartz was born in 1840 in Alsace-Lorraine, that old crossroads territory tucked between France and Germany, and whatever he saw of the world from there, it wasn't enough to hold him. In 1866 he came to the United States, and eventually he made his way to Uvalde, Texas, which in those days was the kind of place where a man with a wagon and some gumption could carve out something real. And that is exactly what Louis did.

He loaded up that wagon with dry goods and medicines and set out to serve the surrounding area, going to the people when the people couldn't easily come to him. A rolling store, in a sense, before there were roads worth the name. Then in 1878 he planted roots.

He established a mercantile store in a frame structure near the corner of Main and Camp streets, and that little building became something Uvalde could count on. Around 1900 he moved the whole operation into a new building right here at this site, a proper home for a business that had outgrown its beginnings. Louis Schwartz died in 1924, but the store didn't.

His sons Lee and Jake Schwartz took the reins and kept it going, an important commercial enterprise in Uvalde for decades more. It finally closed in 1960. More than eighty years after a man with a wagon first showed up to sell folks what they needed.

That is a legacy worth markin'.

What the marker says

Louis Schwartz (1840-1924), a native of Alsace-Lorraine, came to the United States in 1866. He later moved to Uvalde and sold dry goods and medicines, using a wagon to serve the surrounding area. In 1878 he established a mercantile store in a frame structure near the corner of Main and Camp streets. About 1900 he moved the operation to a new building at this site. After his death in 1924 the store was operated by his sons Lee and Jake Schwartz. The business remained an important Uvalde commercial enterprise until it closed in 1960. 1981