Schmidt-Dietz Building

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and here's how I'm gonna pass it along to you. Way back in the 1860s, a man named Ludwig Schmidt put up a two-story stone building right here in Gillespie County. Stone, mind you, not wood, not sod.

Stone. The kind of building that says, I am not going anywhere. And Ludwig had plans for it: he built it to be a hotel, a place where weary travelers could set down their bags and rest their bones.

That's a respectable ambition for a two-story stone structure in the 1860s, and it served the purpose. Then came the early 1890s, and a fellow named Louis Dietz leased the place. Dietz had ideas of his own.

He ran it as the Central Hotel first, then later rebranded it the Dietz Hotel, putting his own name right on it. Now here's a detail worth savoring: Dietz's home sat east of the building, and that home is what provided the space for the hotel kitchen and the dining room. The man was literally cooking out of his own house to feed his guests.

You have to admire the commitment. Then the year 1899 rolls around, and a merchant by the name of Charles Schwarz bought the property and opened a store. The hotel era was over, but the building's working life was far from finished.

Over the years, that same two-story stone structure has housed a saloon, doctors' offices, lawyers' offices, and a drugstore. Ludwig Schmidt built it in the 1860s to do one job, and it ended up doing just about all of them.

What the marker says

Ludwig Schmidt constructed this two-story stone building in the 1860s for use as a hotel. In the early 1890s it was leased to Louis Dietz, who ran the business as the Central Hotel and later as the Dietz Hotel. His home east of the structure provided space for the hotel kitchen and dining room. Merchant Charles Schwarz bought the property in 1899 and opened a store here. the building has also housed a saloon, doctors' and lawyers' offices, and a drugstore. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1981