The Hub Shoe Store

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about The Hub Shoe Store in Harrison County. Now settle in, because this one's got layers. It starts with a family, a long road, and a pair of shoes.

Mose Weisman opened the Hub Shoe Store on East Austin Street in Marshall in 1897. One store, one street, one man with a vision. But to understand what that meant, you have to go back a good ways.

The Weisman family had made quite a journey, emigrating from Bavaria, Germany, first to Syracuse, New York, and then onward to Marshall in the late 1840s. They arrived and planted roots, becoming part of Marshall's thriving Jewish community. That's the kind of staying power that tends to produce something lasting.

And sure enough, by 1897, Mose Weisman was open for business. Now here's where the story takes a turn that most shoe stores never manage. Weisman's nephew, Louis W.

Kariel, purchased the business in 1924. Kariel was a World War I veteran, and he brought that same sense of duty to civic life, eventually becoming Marshall's first Jewish mayor. First.

That's not a small footnote. That's a marker in its own right. Then came Louis W.

Kariel, Jr., who became the store's sole owner in 1969 and carried on that tradition of service as a city leader himself. Two generations of Kariels, one store, one community, and a consistent habit of showing up for both. The Hub Shoe Store finally closed in 2001, after more than a century on East Austin Street.

But the marker standing there today makes one thing plain: the store and its proprietors are still remembered for a legacy of commerce and service in the Marshall community. A shoe store, yes. But also something considerably more than that.

What the marker says

Mose Weisman opened Hub Shoe Store on E. Austin Street in 1897. The Weisman family emigrated from Bavaria, Germany, to Syracuse, New York, and then to Marshall in the late 1840s, becoming part of the town’s thriving Jewish community. Weisman’s nephew, Louis W. Kariel, purchased the business in 1924. Kariel, a World War I veteran, later became Marshall’s first Jewish mayor. His son, Louis W. Kariel, Jr., became the store’s sole owner in 1969 and continued a tradition of service as a city leader. The Hub Shoe Store closed in 2001 and today it and its proprietors continue to be remembered for a legacy of commerce and service in the Marshall community. 175 Years of Texas Independence * 1836-2011