Old Rock Store - Main Street Historic District - Chappell Hill, TX
Posted by: 
Raven
N 30° 08.524 W 096° 15.435
14R E 764204 N 3337704
Constructed in 1869, the Old Rock Store in Chappell Hill, TX was the town's only stone commercial structure and is one of the 26 "Contributing" buildings within its NRHP-designated Main Street Historic District.
Waymark Code: WMME43
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 09/07/2014
Views: 3
Chappell Hill's NRHP Main Street Historic District is an area covering 36 buildings, most of them built between 1850 and 1915 and reflecting the many variations in architectural style within that period in history. For more information on this particular Historic District, please see the following waymark: (
visit link)
The founding of the town of Chappell Hill is contributed to Mary Hargrove Haller who purchased a 100-acre site in this part of Texas on February 2, 1847 and subsequently commissioned a survey and the plotting of town lots. Just three years later, Mary Haller and her husband Jacob began building a two-story frame house now known as the "Stagecoach Inn" at the northwest corner of the center of that new town.
The Old Rock Store, located 2 blocks South of the "Stagecoach Inn", was built in 1869 right after the Civil War and was the town's only stone commercial structure. It was owned by merchant John E. Glass, then run by R. Malinowski as a grocery store, served as a Port Office before it was relocated to another new building nearby, and was ultimately acquired by the Chappell Hill Historical Society who restored it in 1969 to use as their Meeting Hall.
Per its associated Texas Historical marker:
"Town's early masonry store, built 1869 by merchant John E. Glass. Has thick sandstone walls, massive hand-hewn and pegged pine timbers, doors and window shutters made with square nails. Tenants have been grocers and the Chappell Hill Post Office."
Per the official NRHP records, the Old Rock Store building is a:
"Single-story, four-bay, vernacular commercial building constructed of thick native sandstone walls and massive handhewn and pegged pine timbers. Front facade features symmetrical arrangement with two double doors and a single wooden shuttered window on each side. Single window and door on exposed side at rear. Double wooden service door on west rear elevation. Front awning over sidewalk covered with wooden shingles and supported by four pine posts. As evidenced by historic photos, facade was plastered in early 1900s. Interior ceiling and floors are 6" tongue-and-grove pine. Restoration of building begun in 1969 by the Chappell Hill Historical Society. Part of the interior flooring and exterior wall at the northwest corner replaced and repaired, respectively. Interior walls were finished with a smooth gypsum plaster. Tin awning replaced by wooden one based on historic photos. Chappell Hill's only stone building. Cistern located beneath structure. Many businesses conducted in building."
"Town's early masonry store, built 1869 by merchant John E. Glass. Has thick sandstone walls, massive hand-hewn and pegged pine timbers, doors and window shutters made with square nails. Tenants have been grocers and the Chappell Hill Post Office.