DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the Louis Wagner Home. Now, every good story's got a beginning, and this one starts the way a lot of great Texas stories do — with somebody arriving from somewhere else with nothing but ambition and a willingness to work. Louis Wagner came over from Germany, and whatever he brought with him in that bag, it was enough.
Born in 1848, gone by 1909, but in between those two dates, the man built himself a life in Dallas that was worth remembering. A successful businessman, the marker calls him, and in Dallas, that's no small thing to say. By 1884, Louis Wagner had done well enough that he and his wife Anna Pretz Wagner set about building themselves a proper residence.
Now Anna wasn't a stranger to this part of the world — her father was Jacob Pretz, an early settler of the Swiss Avenue area, so she had roots here even if her husband had sailed to find his. They put that home up at 2917 Bryan Street, and there it stood. Turn-of-the-century craftsmanship, the kind of place that says something about the people who built it.
But here's where the story takes a turn, as stories will. Time moves on, neighborhoods shift, and by the 1970s that house was staring down the business end of a demolition order. January of 1977, somebody made a decision — they were going to move it.
The whole house, picked up and carried to a new location, just to keep it standing. And it worked. The residence has been restored to a turn-of-the-century appearance, which means if Louis and Anna could walk through the door today, they might just feel right at home.
Some things, it turns out, are worth the trouble of saving.
What the marker says
A German immigrant, Louis Wagner (1848 - 1909) became a successful Dallas businessman. In 1884 he and his wife Anna Pretz Wagner built this residence. She was the daughter of Jacob Pretz, an early settler of the Swiss Avenue area. The house was originally located at 2917 Bryan Street. In January 1977 it was moved to this location to save it from demolition. The residence has been restored to a turn-of-the-century appearance. RTHL - 1979