Hofmann Dry Goods Company
Mason, Mason County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Founded by brothers-in-law William Hofmann and Ernest H. Bogusch, Hofmann and Ernest H. Bogusch, Hofmann and Company opened for business in August 1890, providing the citizens of Mason and the surrounding communities with a central supply and trading source. The name of the store changed to Hofman Dry Goods Company in 1903. In addition to selling general merchandise, it became a commodities brokerage firm and a popular downtown gathering place. An important part of Mason's economic and social history, the store has remained in the Hofmann family. (1991)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
In the summer of 1890, brothers-in-law William Hofmann and Ernest H. Bogusch opened a general store on the courthouse square in Mason, then a young ranching town in the Texas Hill Country. Renamed Hofmann Dry Goods Company in 1903, it grew beyond dry goods into a commodities brokerage and a favorite gathering spot for townsfolk and surrounding farmers. Kept in the same family for generations, it became a fixture of Mason's downtown economic and social life.
Why it matters
The long-lived family mercantile was the kind of central supply-and-credit hub that knit together isolated ranching communities across the late-19th-century Texas frontier.
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Related people
- · William Hofmann
- · Ernest H. Bogusch
Themes & tags
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