Martindale Motor Corporation Building

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the Martindale Motor Corporation Building, over in Caldwell County. Now, 1924 was a year when a town could dream big, and somebody in Martindale was dreaming in two stories. The Martindale Motor Corporation put up this commercial block building that year, and they had one purpose in mind: selling Hupmobile automobiles.

Not just any building, mind you. A proper two-story, load-bearing masonry structure with what the marker calls modest details and finishes. Solid.

Built to last. And as it turned out, it did last, even if the dreams inside it didn't always. Now, the ground floor was where the automobile business happened, but you go upstairs and that second floor was practically a small town all by itself.

The Martindale Telephone Company had its offices up there. Switchboard operators had living quarters on that same floor, which, when you think about it, means somebody was always on duty, always listening. There was also a club room up there, public offices, and, sitting above it all, the Masonic Lodge No. 1206.

That is a lot of civilization packed into one building. Then in 1937, the northwest corner of the first floor became home to a post office, and that post office held its ground all the way until 1975. Letters going in and out of Martindale for nearly four decades, right there in the corner.

But the motor company itself, well, the Great Depression had something to say about that. The marker tells us the company lost profitability due in part to those hard years, and by 1938, it closed. After that, the building found new lives: a Humble Oil gas station, apartments, the kind of second and third acts a sturdy old building earns when the first act ends too soon.

The walls never came down, though. That two-story masonry block just kept standing, which, for a building that sold cars nobody could afford to buy anymore, is a pretty fine last word.

What the marker says

This two-story commercial block structure was built in 1924 by the Martindale Motor Corporation as a new hupmobile automobile sales and dealership building. The second floor contained offices for the Martindale Telephone Company, living quarters for switchboard operators, public offices, a club room and the Masonic Lodge No. 1206. A post office operated in the northwest corner of the first floor from 1937 to 1975. The motor company lost profitability due in part to the Great Depression and closed in 1938. The building was later used as a Humble Oil gas station and apartments. The architecture is an example of a two-story load-bearing masonry structure with modest details and finishes. (Recorded Texas Historical Landmark 2022)