Old Huffmeyer Store

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'm just along for the ride. Now, if you're rollin' through Bandera and you happen to spot a building made of native stone that looks like it's been around since before your grandfather's grandfather had whiskers, well, there's a reason for that. That right there is the Old Huffmeyer Store, and its story starts in 1873.

That's when it went up, built for E. Huffmeyer and his brother by a contractor named B.F. Langford, Sr.

Stone by stone, native stone, the kind this Hill Country has never been shy about offerin'. The result was something solid enough that Bandera still calls it the oldest building in town. Oldest.

Full stop. That's not a small thing in a place as storied as Bandera. Now, buildings like this don't just sit pretty.

They work. For more than thirty years, W.J. Davenport, Sr., ran a general store out of those thick stone walls.

Thirty years of boots comin' through the door, dry goods changin' hands, neighbors catchin' up across the counter. Then came 1936, and fire got hold of it. Fire has a way of testin' what something is made of, and this one left its mark.

But the building had already proven what it was made of, literally, native stone, and it was still standin'. Thomas F. Boyle took on the work of restorin' and remodelings it, and what Langford built in 1873 came back around.

Some buildings earn their place. This one built it.

What the marker says

Built 1873 for E. Huffmeyer & brother, by B.F. Langford, Sr., contractor; of native stone. Bandera's oldest building. Used over 30 years by W.J. Davenport, Sr., as general store. Damaged by fire, 1936. Restored and remodeled by Thomas F. Boyle. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark, 1967.