Dr. Eugene Clark Library
Lockhart, Caldwell County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Built in 1899 and dedicated on July 6, 1900, this library was financed with funds bequeathed by Dr. Clark, who was a prominent physician of Lockhart and San Antonio. A native of New Orleans, he was a graduate of Tulane Medical School and studied in Vienna, Austria. He was an eye, ear, nose, and throat specialist. He died, while still a young man, in New York City in 1897. The building, an outstanding example of French Renaissance style, was designed and built by T. S. Hodges. When erected, it stood near the opera house, in the cultural center of Lockhart. (1968)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Built in 1899 and dedicated in 1900, this library was funded by a bequest from Dr. Eugene Clark, a New Orleans–born, Tulane- and Vienna-trained specialist who practiced in Lockhart and San Antonio before his early death in 1897. Designed and built by T. S. Hodges in an ornate French Renaissance style, it rose beside the opera house in what was then Lockhart's cultural heart. It endures as one of the oldest purpose-built libraries in Texas.
Why it matters
A physician's parting gift, this library shows how private philanthropy brought learning and beauty to small Texas towns at the turn of the century.
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Related people
- · Eugene Clark
- · T. S. Hodges
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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