Schwartz & Raas and San Angelo National Bank Building

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Three Victorian commercial buildings standing together in San Angelo, Tom Green County, each with its own story to tell, and all of them born out of the same moment: the local economic boom of the 1880s. Among the earliest permanent buildings in the city, these structures weren't just walls and rooflines.

They were San Angelo staking its claim as the leading commercial center of the whole area. Now, let's take them one at a time, because each one earned its place in this block. First up, the San Angelo National Bank building.

In 1884, the bank purchased an existing building right in the middle of the block. Not content to leave well enough alone, they brought in contractor J. C.

Lillis to supervise the addition of a new facade. And what a facade it was. Sandstone pulled from two local quarries, topped off with an ornate cornice and pediment.

That building wore its prosperity on its face, plain as day. The bank held that address until 1902, when it moved on to a new site. After that, the building passed through the hands of a variety of businesses.

Right next door, something just as interesting was happening. In 1885, Louis Schwartz and Joseph Raas, who were already running a grocery right there in the block, decided to build a commercial structure adjacent to the bank building. They hired Oscar Ruffini, a noted San Angelo architect, to design it.

Ruffini gave them a facade of stone, cast iron, and sheet iron. Sturdy, striking, and made to last. Now here's a detail that must have raised an eyebrow or two at the time.

The building that Schwartz and Raas built and paid for? They rented it out to Johnson and Taylor, Fancy Grocers. Competitors of Schwartz and Raas.

Whether that was savvy business or just a good laugh at a neighbor's expense, the marker doesn't say, but it's worth sitting with for a moment. Then comes the third structure. Built in 1886, it replaced the earlier Schwartz and Raas grocery and dry goods store.

By 1888 the business had expanded to take in their adjacent building as well. That 1886 structure went on to become the site of the Roxy Theatre, carrying the memory of that commercial boom right into the age of moving pictures. And then, in 1973, the building was damaged by fire.

Three structures, one block, one boom decade, and a story that stretches from sandstone quarries and cast iron facades all the way to a theatre marquee and a fire. San Angelo doesn't build small, and it never has.

What the marker says

These three Victorian commercial structures were built during the local economic boom of the 1880s. Among the earliest permanent buildings in San Angelo, they represent the early development of the city as the leading commercial center of the area. In 1884 the San Angelo National Bank purchased an existing building in the middle of the block. A new facade was added, under the supervision of contractor J. C. Lillis, which features sandstone from two local quarries and an ornate cornice and pediment. After the bank moved to a new site in 1902, the building housed a variety of businesses. In 1885 Louis Schwartz and Joseph Raas, owners of a grocery in this block, built a commercial structure adjacent to the bank building. Designed by the noted San Angelo architect Oscar Ruffini, it features a facade of stone, cast iron, and sheet iron. The building was first rented to the firm of Johnson & Taylor, Fancy Grocers, competitors of Schwartz & Raas. The third structure here, built in 1886, replaced the earlier Schwartz and Raas grocery and dry goods store. In 1888 the business was expanded to include their adjacent building. Later the site of the Roxy Theatre, the 1886 structure was damaged by fire in 1973. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1981