Staacke Brothers Building

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the Staacke Brothers Building in Bexar County. Now, San Antonio has seen its share of grand ambitions turned into stone and mortar, and this one is worth slowing down for. Back in 1894, a German immigrant by the name of August Frederick Staacke had a carriage business that was doing well enough, successful enough, that he decided it deserved a building to match.

And when you want a building that makes a statement, you don't just call anybody. You call James Reily Gordon. Gordon was born in 1864 and would go on until 1937, and by the time Staacke came knockin', Gordon was already considered a prominent Texas architect.

The man knew what he was doing. What Gordon designed for Staacke was not a plain box to park carriages near. No, he reached back into classical and renaissance revival styles, the kind of architecture that says this city is going somewhere and it intends to look good on the way.

Granite Corinthian columns out front. A two-story arcade climbing up the facade. This is the architecture of a developing commercial society, and the marker says exactly that, which means someone was paying attention.

August Frederick Staacke himself passed in 1909, but the building he commissioned in 1894 is still standing, still wearing those columns like a fine coat. Some things built to last, actually do.

What the marker says

Designed by prominent Texas Architect James Reily Gordon (1864-1937), this structure was built in 1894 to house the successful Carriage business of German immigrant August Frederick Staacke (d.1909). An excellent example of the architecture of a developing commercial society, the Staacke building exhibits elements of the classical and renaissance revival styles. It features granite Corninthian columns and a two-story arcade.