Commerce Street -- Nacogdoches TX - Signs of History on Waymarking.com

The sign of history is located at the corner of Commerce Street and North Freedonia Street in downtown Nacogdoches om the Old Cotton Exchange Building, facing Commerce Street.

The sign reads as follows:

"COMMERCE STREET

Because of the importance of El Camino Real (Main Street) as an east-west corridor in early Texas, most of the city’s leading commercial establishments developed along the sides of this important road. The property in this block originally belonged to the families who owned the Old Stone Fort, the Y’Barbos and the Roberts. As individuals brought property along Main Street for the businesses, they also acquired the barns, wagon yards, wells, storehouses and corn cribs behind these lots along what is now Commerce Street. The area has served as an important Nacogdoches service artery since the days of the Republic of Texas. No name, however, appears on maps before 1906.

One of the town’s main livery stables and wagon yards developed behind the Mitchell Hotel on the east end of this block in the mid-19th century. Behind the drugstores, groceries, and general merchandise store fronts in the west end of the block, an important series of warehouses came into being to service the Main Street stores.

In 1888, when the Mayer & Schmidt Company purchased the building on the corner of Main and Freedonia, their deed gave the first formal recognition of the importance of the alleyway to all the businesses. The deed designated 35 feet of the distance between their main Street store and their storehouse “for public purposes only.” This deed and others, however referred to the alley as “Progress Street.” The 1906 Sanborn city map used the name “Commerce Street” for the first time and establish the width at 45 feet.

Architect D. Rulfs design most of the buildings along commerce Street in the. Between 1888 and 1910. For instance, an 1888 he built the first Mayer & Schmidt Building at the west end of the block between commerce and Maine along Freedonia Street; in 1889 he designed and built the Opera House at the east end of the block. Rulfs also built the warehouses along the north side of Commerce Street. In 1898 he enlarged and added a second story to the Cotton Exchange Building. While the fire of 1901 destroyed the center of the block, the fire of 1908 completely destroyed the West End. Roles replace the ruins with the Mayer & Schmidt Building which still stands on the corner at Fredonia.

On the map of 1906, wells are still shown in the edge of the street, and the buildings facing Main did not extend to a uniform depth along Commerce. In later decades, many of the façades of these commercial buildings along the street received “updates”. There are however enough of the turn-of-the-century elements to make commerce Street the most interesting service artery in downtown Nacogdoches: intricate brickwork, the arched windows, metal shutters and awnings, and interesting interiors make commerce Street one of the nicest streets in downtown Nacogdoches.

Sponsored by the Heritage Club of Nacogdoches
Purchased in part by a grant from the Texas Historical Commissions Texas Heritage Trails Regional Program. Matching grant funds provided by Plaza Principal."

Group that erected the marker: Heritage Club of Nacogdoches Address of where the marker is located. Approximate if necessary: Commerce Street at North Fredonia Street Nacogdoches, TX URL of a web site with more information about the history mentioned on the sign: Not listed

Visit Instructions:
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Date Logged Log   12/29/2017 Benchmark Blasterz visited it