DUANE
Duane's take
Now, I'm tellin' this one straight from the official marker, my own way of passin' along what the Texas Historical Commission put down in stone. Lot 9, Block 3 of the original town plat of Albany, Texas. Just a patch of dirt in 1882, but a man named Charles Hartfield had plans for it.
Hartfield was a noted local restauranteur — the kind of man who understood that a hungry town is a grateful town — and he purchased that lot with every intention of buildin' a restaurant right next door to whatever went up on it. Local diners were already anticipatin' the thing before the first stone was laid. Albany was going to eat well.
But here's where fate steps in and clears its throat. Shortly before his death in 1884, Hartfield sold the lot to a businessman out of Alabama by the name of Max Blach. Now, Blach wasn't just some speculator passin' through.
He was vice president of the Albany Water Company, and together with his partner N. H. Burns, he had already done something remarkable for this little West Texas town — he brought a system of running water to Albany in 1884.
The man was clearly not afraid of an ambitious project. In March of that same year, 1884, Blach broke ground on a one-story native stone structure right there on Lot 9. Built it solid.
Built it fast. By April it was complete and leased out to a man named J. R.
Davis, who had a particular vision for the place — and that vision was not, as Charles Hartfield had once dreamed, a restaurant. On May 1st, 1884, the White Elephant Saloon opened for business. Now, among its instantly popular features was a white elephant display — mounted up on the rooftop, bold as a declaration.
Albany could not miss it, and Albany did not ignore it. The saloon was raucous, it was popular, and it was, by all accounts, exactly the kind of establishment that certain upstanding citizens wished would go quietly away. They did not wait for it to go quietly.
Sometime during the establishment's heyday, the white elephant disappeared from the rooftop. Gone in the night. The perpetrators were believed to be citizens who disapproved of the saloon's raucous business.
Nobody was ever named. Nobody had to be. Albany knew Albany.
Still, the White Elephant kept its doors open, kept pourin', kept its reputation warm — right up until February 1886, when Davis himself announced his intent to close the saloon. Whether conscience, commerce, or community pressure finally won out, the marker doesn't say. But the doors shut, and the Blach Building moved on to quieter lives.
The building was leased to W. M. Wigley, who ran a dry goods and furniture store on the site.
Furniture businesses occupied the place for many years after that. In 1919, Blach's heirs sold the structure to S. C.
Coffee, who sold it in 1923 to T. J. Crow, who conveyed it in 1925 to an Albany businessman named L.
H. Hill — born 1859, died 1932. The Hill family held onto that native stone building for decades, through all manner of purposes.
In the 1940s it was home to The Albany News. In the 1950s and '60s, a pipe organ maker set up his workshop and office inside those same walls where cowboys once bellied up to the bar. The Hill family maintained ownership all the way until 1977.
One building. A restauranteur's dream, a water company man's investment, a saloon's wild season, a furniture store's long and quiet tenure, a newspaper's ink, a pipe organ's song. That's Albany, Texas — and that native stone has heard every note of it.
What the marker says
(Blach Building) The land on this site, Lot 9, Block 3 of the original town plat of Albany, was purchased in 1882 by noted local restauranteur Charles Hartfield. He planned to build a restaurant next door, and the pending establishment was much anticipated by local diners. Shortly before his death in 1884, Hartfield sold the lot to Alabama businessman Max Blach. Blach was vice president of the Albany Water Company. He and partner N. H. Burns brought a system of running water to the town in 1884. Blach began construction on this one-story native stone structure in March 1884. The building was completed in April and leased to J. R. Davis, who put it to its most infamous use. The White Elephant Saloon opened for business in May 1, 1884. Among its instantly popular features was a white elephant display which was removed from the rooftop early in the establishment's heyday. The perpetrators were believed to be citizens who disapproved of the saloon's raucous business. Despite its popularity, Davis announced his intent to close the saloon in February 1886. The Blach Building soon was leased to W. M. Wigley, who operated a dry goods and furniture store on this site. Succeeding furniture businesses occuped the building for many years. Blach's heirs sold the structure to S. C. Coffee in 1919. Coffee sold it in 1923 to T. J. Crow, who conveyed it to Albany businessman L. H. Hill (1859-1932) in 1925. The structure was used for various purposes over the years; it was the home of The Albany News in the 1940s and was the workshop and office of a pipe organ maker in the 1950s and 1960s. The Hill family maintained ownership of the edifice until 1977. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1998