Preibisch Building

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the Texas Historical Commission put down on the marker for the Preibisch Building in Sealy, Austin County. Now settle in, because this one starts with a boat crossing an ocean and ends with a brick building that somehow wound up in the movies. In 1860, a German immigrant by the name of Adolph H.

Preibisch and his wife Emilie made their way to Austin County. They had no way of knowing it then, but they'd planted themselves in a place that was about to become something — because the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railroad had other plans for that stretch of Texas. When the railroad came through and the town of Sealy rose up to meet it, Adolph and Emilie didn't hesitate.

They bought property in the new railroad town, and in 1885 they purchased the corner lots that would define their legacy. Then they hired a man named John Colleton to do what John Colleton did best. Now Colleton was a brick mason, and not the kind who scrimped on his materials.

He ran a brickyard over in nearby Bellville, where he pulled clay straight out of the Brazos River and fired it into bricks that built half of Sealy. In 1886 and 1887, those Brazos River bricks went up into the Preibisch Building — right there on a prominent corner lot, arched window openings and corbelled brickwork and all, the kind of building that tells a whole street it means business. And Adolph did mean business.

His store stocked household and kitchen furniture, window shades, rugs, carpets, and other manner of household goods. But here's the wry part, the part that tells you something true about frontier commerce — as was the practice with many early furniture dealers, Preibisch also made and sold funeral caskets. The man who could furnish your parlor could also, when the time came, furnish your final arrangements.

Life and death, right there on the same sales floor. Adolph passed away in 1899, and the family kept the store going. When Emilie died in 1905, their son W.

W. Preibisch stepped up and took the reins. The building stayed in Preibisch hands all the way until 1946 — sixty years of family stewardship in a single structure.

Over those decades the tenants changed: a general merchandise store, a grocery, a jewelry and gift shop, and eventually a saloon and pool hall known simply as My Place, which apparently had enough character that it served as a setting for advertisements and motion picture films. John Colleton's Brazos River bricks, it turns out, were photogenic. That one-part brick commercial structure still stands as part of Sealy's architectural heritage, a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark since 2001 — a corner lot that once sold carpets and caskets and somehow ended up on film.

Adolph and Emilie Preibisch came a long way from Germany to build something that lasted. Turns out, they built it right.

What the marker says

German immigrant Adolph H. Preibisch and his wife, Emilie, came to Austin County in 1860. After the town of Sealy developed along the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railroad, the Preibisches bought property in the new railroad town. In 1885, Adolph and Emilie Preibisch purchased these lots and hired brick mason John Colleton to construct this commercial building for them in 1886-1887. Colleton's brickyard in nearby Bellville, where he fired bricks from Brazos River clay, was the source of material for many of Sealy's buildings. Sited on a prominent corner lot, the Preibisch building first housed Preibisch's own store, in which he sold household and kitchen furniture, window shades, rugs, carpets and other manner of household goods. As was the practice with many early furniture dealers, Preibisch also made and sold funeral caskets from his store. The family continued to run the store after Adolph died in 1899. After Emilie's death in 1905, their son W. W. Preibisch took over the business. Later tenants of the Preibisch building included a general merchandise store, grocery store, jewelry and gift shop, and a saloon/pool hall known as "My Place," which served as a setting for several advertisements and motion picture films. The building remained in the Preibisch family until 1946. The one-part brick commercial structure, which features arched window and door openings and corbelled brickwork, is significant for its association with the early commercial development of Sealy and remains an important part of Sealy's architectural heritage. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 2001