A. L. Davis Store - Dripping Springs Downtown Historic District - Dripping Springs, TX
Posted by: 
WalksfarTX
N 30° 11.558 W 098° 05.396
14R E 587605 N 3340480
Built in 1891 by A.L. Davis, one of the wealthiest men in Dripping Springs, this store marked the maturation of Dripping Springs from a settlement consisting of a few frame storefronts to a town with a more substantial mercantile district.
Waymark Code: WMY2M3
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 04/08/2018
Views: 0
Texas Historic Site Atlas
A. L. Davis bought four adjacent lots in Block 7 in 1891 and built a two-story rock structure on Lot 6. The bottom floor was used as a store and the upper story was let to various community organizations such as the Masonic Lodge. The W. T. Chapman Firm, comprised of Chapman, his son Mercer, and son-in-law Thomas Egerton, bought the business in 1901 and operated the general merchandise store until 1920.
By 1951, Solon Glosson leased the building, where he ran the Red & White Grocery until a fire nearly destroyed the building on November 19, 1951. Only the rock walls were left intact; the two-story stone front façade is all that remains of the second story. A larger limestone addition was constructed on the building’s west elevation in 1971.
The long rectangular building has a front-gabled roof. The roof is not visible from the front, Mercer Street, elevation, since here the original two-story façade is intact. The upper portion of the façade is a false front, rising above the building’s current one-story roof height. The three arched upper floor windows are enclosed. On the first floor, however, the façade features three large arched openings, each with limestone voussoirs and keystone. The central arch contains a single entry door, sidelights, and transom. The other two arches contain storefront windows. The building is of coursed ashlar construction and features blocky quoining at the corners. The east, College Street, elevation is long and does not have windows. Toward its end is a small shed-roofed stone addition. The A.L. Davis Store is one of the more noteworthy buildings in Dripping Springs and is a contributing resource in the historic district.