E. O. Finn Building
Bellville, Austin County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Situated on land originally granted by the Mexican government to Austin County pioneer John Nichols, this vernacular Italianate commercial building was constructed in 1896 by E. Oscar Finn and John Thomas Colleton. E.O. Finn (1866-1945), a native of Germany, first came to this country with his parents in 1869. A master mechanic and a smithy of buggies and wagons, Finn built this structure to serve as a sales shop for his products on the first floor with living quarters for his family on the upper story. Drinking water was obtained from a well located inside the building on the first floor, while the remainder of the water supply was piped into the upstairs bathroom from a metal-lined indoor cistern that collected rainwater from the roof. The structure remained in the Finn family for over seventy-five years. The E.O. Finn building, or Carriage House as it is also known, features paired Italianate windows, cast iron columns, and a hand-operated dumbwaiter which was made by the Energy Manufacturing Company of Philadelphia and runs from the basement to the first and second stories. The structure is a reminder of Bellville's early commercial development. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1982
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
On land first granted by the Mexican government to Austin County pioneer John Nichols, this vernacular Italianate commercial building was raised in 1896 by E. Oscar Finn and John Thomas Colleton. Finn, a German-born master mechanic who came to America as a child, made buggies and wagons on the ground floor while his family lived above, drawing water from an indoor well and a rainwater cistern piped to an upstairs bath. Known as the Carriage House, it still shows its paired Italianate windows, cast-iron columns, and a hand-operated dumbwaiter from Philadelphia.
Why it matters
The building preserves the world of the immigrant craftsman whose skilled trades powered small-town commerce before the automobile age.
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Related people
- · E. Oscar Finn
- · John Thomas Colleton
- · John Nichols
Themes & tags
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