DUANE
Duane's take
Here's the story as the official marker tells it — I'm just the one drivin' you past it. Now pull up a log and listen close, because this little stone building on Waller Creek has got more history packed into its odd angles than most folks would ever guess. Jeremiah Hamilton was born about 1839, way out in Tennessee.
How he made his way to Texas is a chapter the marker doesn't spell out — but by 1869 he was standing in the halls of the 12th Texas Legislature, one of nine Black representatives serving from 1869 to 1871. Nine men. In that chamber.
At that moment in Texas history. You let that settle. When his time in the legislature was done, Hamilton didn't ride off into the horizon.
In 1871, he bought himself a lot right here on Waller Creek and started building. And what he built — well, the marker calls it an oddly shaped stone structure, and whoever wrote those words was not exaggerating. Stone walls cut at angles that'll make you tilt your head.
He put that building up to house his grocery store, and it has been standing ever since. Then in 1873, the property changed hands to a man named Michael Paggi. Italian-born, and by all accounts a fellow with an appetite for unusual business ventures.
He held that property until 1881, and during those years on Waller Creek, Paggi got into several enterprises that raised eyebrows — including, of all things, the manufacture of ice. In Texas. In the 1870s.
You go ahead and think about what that took. One oddly shaped stone building. A legislator, a grocer, and an ice maker.
Waller Creek has seen some things.
What the marker says
Born about 1839 in Tennessee, Jeremiah Hamilton was one of nine Black representatives in the 12th Texas Legislature, 1869-71. He bought this lot on Waller Creek in 1871 and began building this oddly shaped stone structure to house his grocery store. Italian-born Michael Paggi owned the property from 1873 to 1881. He was involved in several unusual business ventures, including the manufacture of ice. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1978