DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the Texas Historical Commission put down on the marker for the W.C. Williams Building in Matagorda County — so hold on, because this one's got cowboys, oil strikes, and a building that outlasted a hurricane. Now, every good Texas story starts with somebody who came from somewhere else, and William Conrad Williams — Billy, to the folks who knew him — was no exception to that rule.
His father John was a ship's carpenter, all the way from Denmark. His mother Catharine came from Germany. They settled in Matagorda County, and on February 20, 1854, Billy Williams came into the world.
The county would hold him for most of the rest of his life, though not before the world tried its best to pull him every which direction. Growing up, the Williams family lived on Matagorda Island in a little community folks called the Dutch Settlement — a small colony where families like his put down roots close enough together that the children ran in and out of each other's lives like the tide. And one of those children Billy ran with?
A boy named Charles Angelo Siringo. You may know that name. Siringo went on to become one of the more well-known authors Texas ever produced, and in a book called A Texas Cowboy, he mentions Billy Williams more than once.
Just think on that — a childhood spent on a barrier island in a little Dutch colony, and it ends up in print for all of history to read. Billy married Martha Alice Franz in 1876, and that union gave them seven children. Life moved, as life does.
And by 1903, Billy, his brother, and his son were out in Jefferson County, elbow-deep in the Big Hill Oil Discovery Area. Oil ventures in one of the most lucrative fields going — that's the kind of gamble a man takes when he's got grit and maybe a little restlessness left in him. But it's what came next that left the most lasting mark.
In 1904, at the age of fifty, W.C. Williams came to Palacios. He purchased a lot with a plan in mind — a commercial building, something solid, something that would mean something.
He wasn't in a hurry about it either. The Williams Building wasn't completed until 1909, and when it was done, it was done right. Four thousand two hundred square feet of brick, built in the Romanesque style, with those grand circular arches that say to everyone walking by: this is here to stay.
And stay it did. It became the cornerstone of the business community, an anchor to downtown Palacios. The first recorded occupant was Palacios Hardware, owned by O.L.
Sparks and then by G.H. Davis. After that came Traylor Hardware, the office of Dr.
Joseph Wagner, Golden Rule Grocery, Price Cash Hardware, and Lawson Hardware. That building cycled through the commerce of a whole community — the nails and groceries and doctor visits and daily dealings that make up a town's life. Billy Williams kept on living in Palacios, watching that building stand, watching the town grow up around it.
He died on November 24, 1946, at the age of ninety-two. The building stayed in the family clear into the 1970s. Now here's the part that gives this story its real weight.
In 1961, Hurricane Carla came through and destroyed much of downtown Palacios — commercial buildings, homes, gone. But the Williams Building, with those circular arches and all that brick, was still standing. It's one of the last reminders of what downtown Palacios looked like before Carla rewrote the skyline.
A ship's carpenter's son, born in 1854, raised on an island with a future cowboy author, out in the oil fields at the turn of the century, and then — brick by brick — he built something in Palacios that a hurricane couldn't take down. Billy Williams didn't just leave a building. He left proof that some things, if you build them right, outlast just about everything.
What the marker says
William Conrad “Billy” (W.C.) Williams was born in Matagorda County on February 20, 1854, to John Aaron Williams (1816 - 1865) and Catharine Elizabeth (Franz) Williams (1827 - 1914). John was a ship’s carpenter from Denmark. Catharine, his wife, was from Germany. W.C. Williams married Martha Alice Franz, (1860 - 1952). In 1876, the union which produced seven children. Before moving to Palacios, Williams was a childhood friend of well known author Charles Angelo Siringo and is mentioned several times in A Texas Cowboy. The families lived near each other on Matagorda Island in a small colony called the “Dutch Settlement”. In 1903, Williams, his brother and son were involved in oil ventures in the lucrative Big Hill Oil Discovery Area in Jefferson County. Williams came to Palacios in 1904 at the age of fifty and purchased a lot intending to erect a commercial building. The Williams Building was completed in 1909 in the Romanesque style with circular arches. The 4200 square foot brick structure was the cornerstone of the business community and an anchor to Palacios’ downtown. The first recorded occupant was Palacios Hardware owned by O.L. Sparks and then G.H. Davis. The building was also home to Traylor Hardware, the office of Dr. Joseph Wagner, Golden Rule Grocery, Price Cash Hardware, and Lawson Hardware. Williams continued to live in Palacios until his death on November 24, 1946 at the age of ninety-two. The Williams Building remained in the family until the 1970’s. This historic building is a reminder of Downtown Palacios before Hurricane Carla in 1961 destroyed many commercial buildings and homes. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 2015