Baker-Doyle Building - Granbury, TX - Victorian Style Architecture on Waymarking.com

This is a contributing building in the Hood County Courthouse Historic District, and the National Register's Nomination Form refers to it as "Old J. D. Baker's Dry Goods". However, beyond noting it and the adjoining E. A. Hannaford Drug Store building as the two oldest buildings on the square, it doesn't provide much in the way of background. This is a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark, and a 1988 Texas Historical Marker on the building provides some background:

John D. Baker (1848-1899) had this building constructed in 1882 for his dry goods store. A merchant and community leader, Baker later moved to Weatherford. His partner, James H. Doyle (1846-1933), became sole owner of the building in 1899. Later occupants included City National Bank, grocers, dentists, and doctors. Built of native limestone, the high Victorian Italianate structure features arched window openings with fanlights and a simple stone cornice.

While not as ornate as some classic Italianate buildings, other stylistic features include a flat roof, pilasters, and tall, arched windows on the first floor suggesting the the main floor is the primary, important floor. The Hood County Historical Society provides some overlapping and complementary history:

John D. Baker had this building constructed in 1882 for his dry goods store. Built of native limestone, the high Victorian Italianate structure features arched window openings with fanlights and a simple stone cornice. These two buildings were advertised as the "Arch Block" because of their distinctive arched façade with a six-bay storefront. Baker began his own dry goods business with $500 of borrowed capital. He hauled his dry goods from Dallas to Granbury in horse drawn wagons. Baker was one of the founders and original shareholders of The First National Bank of Granbury, established in 1887. He also participated with fellow merchants,. P.H. Thrash, the Nutt brothers, and E.A. Hannaford, in building the first bridge across the Brazos River in 1878. In 1891, Baker moved to Weatherford. In 1894, he became President of the First National Bank of Weatherford and helped establish Weatherford College.

Baker's partner, James H. Doyle, became sole owner of the building in 1899. The store featured a millinery department upstairs, complete with a hat decorator from St. Louis. Doyle sold his building in 1908 to the City National Bank of Granbury, which operated until 1928. In October 1908, the bank added an iron stairway to the north side of the building (still in existence today) to provide access to dentists' and physicians’ offices. Dr. S.T.R. Green practiced dentistry on the second floor from 1909 until his death in 1933. Granbury native, Albert Porter recalls, "That was the first dentist I ever visited. He didn’t deaden your teeth to pull them. He just pulled them."

Public/Private: Private Tours Available?: No Year Built: 1882 Web Address: [Web Link]

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