DUANE
Duane's take
The way I tell it, this one comes straight from the official marker — let me spin it out for you. Now, Cameron, Texas has seen its share of characters walk through its doors, but few left a mark quite like the man who came all the way from Austria-Hungary to nail down a piece of the hardware business. Albert J.
Matocha was born there in 1876, and when he was still just a young boy, his family packed up and made the crossing to Texas, settling in the nearby community of Burlington. Not a bad start for a future merchant. He got his footing working for the Law and Sprinkel Hardware firm — learning the trade from the ground up — and by 1898 he was ready to hang his own shingle.
He opened his own hardware store right there in the section of Cameron folks called Dutchtown, in a building owned by a man named Frank Mondrik. The store flourished. Of course it did.
But then came 1920, and with it, fire. A bad one. It severely damaged the hardware building, and most men might've looked at those charred timbers and called it a life.
Not Matocha. He tracked down a nearby dance hall — a dance hall, mind you — and used that structure to repair what the flames had left behind. There's a Texas solution if I ever heard one.
He kept right on operating until his death in 1945. Now, a story like that deserves a worthy heir, and in 1946, Erwin Lee Wied stepped up and purchased the business and inventory. The building itself stayed under the Mondrik family's ownership all the way until 2002 — that's over a hundred years of Mondrik real estate, quietly holding the whole thing together.
Wied kept the shelves stocked with all the tools and supplies a farmer or a household needed, and because the store had been around so long, it built up an inventory that was, by all accounts, legendary in its breadth. Behind the hardware store, Wied ran a tin shop, where a craftsman named Edwin Reynolds — and the supplemental plaque makes a point of correcting the record on that name — worked alongside Richard Ehler. The two of them turned out ornate tin work that you can still find scattered throughout the area today.
Julius Cabron was among those early employees as well. After Wied's death in 1986, his family carried it on, keeping the doors open until 1990, when they finally made the call to close. The building itself is still standing — rectangular plan, false front with a stepped parapet, horizontal wood siding, tin covering a full-length porch, and a pair of parallel gable roofs.
It was recorded as a Texas Historic Landmark in 2010. One immigrant boy, one fire, one salvaged dance hall, and nearly a century of hardware — all of it still holding its shape on a Cameron streetfront, just waiting for you to drive by and take a look.
What the marker says
Albert J. Matocha was born in Austria-Hungary in 1876 and immigrated to Texas with his family as a young boy; the family made their home in the nearby community of Burlington. As a young man, Matocha began working for the Law and Sprinkel Hardware firm, and he opened his own hardware store in 1898 in the area of Cameron known as "Dutchtown," in a building owned by Frank Mondrik. Matocha's store flourished, but suffered a harsh setback in 1920, when a fire severely damaged the hardware building. Determined to continue operations, Matocha procured a nearby dance hall, and used the structure to repair the remains of the burned building. Matocha continued to successfully operate the store until his death in 1945. In 1946, Erwin Lee Wied purchased the business and inventory, while the building remained under the ownership of the Mondriks until 2002. Wied continued to provide the citizens of Cameron and the surrounding area with many of the tools and supplies necessary for the successful operation of a farm or household. Because of the store's long existence, it was well-known for its extensive inventory. Wied also managed a tin shop behind the hardware store, where Edward Reynolds created ornate tin work that can still be found throughout the area. After Wied's death in 1986, family members continued to operate the store until 1990, when the decision was made to close its doors. This rectangular-plan commercial building features a false front with stepped parapet, horizontal wood siding, and tin covering the full-length porch and pair of parallel gable roofs. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 2010 SUPPLEMENTAL PLAQUE: Edwin Reynolds, not Edward Reynolds, worked with Richard Ehler in the Wied store and tin shop. Richard Ehler and Julius Cabron were early employees.