O'Connor-Proctor Building

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Now, if you want a building that has seen about every kind of Texas life there is to see, pull up a chair, because the O'Connor-Proctor Building in Victoria County has some stories to tell. It was constructed in 1895, and right from the start it wasn't shy about making an impression.

The man behind the design was Paul Helwig, an architect out of Cuero, and he gave this two-story commercial building something to be proud of: red brick, white sandstone, and a Romanesque Revival styling that says, without a word, that the people who built this meant business. And they did. Thomas M.

O'Connor, a rancher and a leading area businessman, kept his offices here. So did the legal firm of brothers Venable B. and Fred C. Proctor.

You've got cattle money and courtroom talent sharing the same address, which, if you think about it, is a very Victoria County kind of arrangement. Now, a lesser building might've settled into one identity and stayed there. Not this one.

Come 1915, the congregation of Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church began holding services inside these very walls, and they kept on doing so through 1924. The same rooms that once echoed with ranchers and lawyers now filled up with prayers and hymns. Then came World War II, and the building shifted again, this time housing army officers.

Red brick that had sheltered cattlemen, counselors, and a Catholic congregation was now a wartime address. One building. One corner of Victoria County.

About as many lives as Texas has counties. That's the O'Connor-Proctor Building, and it's still standing to prove it.

What the marker says

Constructed in 1895, this 2-story commercial building was designed by Cuero architect Paul Helwig. It housed the offices of rancher Thomas M. O'Connor, a leading area businessman,and the legal firm of brothers Venable B. and Fred C. Proctor. It was later used for services of Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church, 1915-24, and housed army officers during World War II. Built of red brick and white sandstone, the structure features Romanesque Revival styling. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1980