Old Thiele Building

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker says about the Old Thiele Building in Runnels County. Now, if you want to talk about a building that has lived more lives than most people ever dream of, pull up a chair and let me tell you about a little piece of Miles, Texas. The year was 1904.

A sheep rancher and civic leader by the name of Joe Thiele decided to put something permanent on the map. Thiele, born in 1850, would live all the way to 1940, so he had plenty of time to watch what he built become something extraordinary. And what he built, he built right.

The native stone used in that structure was dug right out of Willow Creek, two miles to the west. Not shipped in, not hauled from somewhere fancy. Cut from the land itself.

Now, when that building opened, it wasn't doing just one thing. No sir. The first floor housed the Runnels County National Bank.

Serious business, serious money, serious stone walls to keep it all safe. But you walk up those stairs, and suddenly you're somewhere else entirely. The upstairs was the Miles Opera House, the social and cultural center of town.

Road shows came through. Political rallies echoed off those walls. And, because this is Texas, wrestling bouts.

Think about that combination for just a moment. Your money on the ground floor, your entertainment upstairs. A town putting everything it had into one building.

Then 1923 rolls around, and the school moved in. A school, in the same walls that once shook with applause and political speechmaking. After that, the building kept on reinventing itself: dry goods store, grocery, post office, hotel, and, just to come full circle, a bank again.

And then, after 1929, Henry W. Bigler and his wife Mabel Hancock Bigler took ownership. Henry was born in 1878, Mabel in 1886, and together they ran the place as the Hotel Miles.

Mabel passed in 1961, Henry in 1966. They left their mark on those old stone walls just the same as everyone else who ever walked through that door. One building.

One stretch of native stone pulled from Willow Creek. And a whole town's worth of living packed inside it. Joe Thiele built for the ages, and the ages, it turns out, had a lot in store.

What the marker says

Built 1904 by Joe Thiele (1850-1940), sheep rancher and civic leader. Native stone used here was dug at Willow Creek (2 mi. W). First floor housed Runnels County National Bank; upstairs was Miles Opera House -- social and cultural center of town -- staging road shows, political rallies, and wrestling bouts. In 1923, school was located here. Later this structure was used as dry goods store, grocery, post office, hotel, and (again) a bank. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1968 SUPPLEMENTAL PLATE: Building was owned after 1929 by Henry W. Bigler (1878-1966) and wife, Mabel Hancock Bigler (1886-1961), who operated it as the "Hotel Miles".