J. P. Schneider Store
Austin, Travis County, Texas
Marker Inscription
In the mid-1860s, shortly after the Civil War, Jacob Peter "Jake" Schneider (1852-1925) began working in William Brueggerhoff's general mercantile store, and part-time as a legislative page in the Capitol. About 1870, he and his mother, Margarita Schneider, opened a store on the corner across the street (north). Brueggerfhoff helped stock the enterprise in payment of a debt. In 1873, as the business expanded, and Schneider built this two-story brick structure, and converted the older building into storage space, called the "flour house". The Schneider residence was also across the street. The basement of the Schneider store contained meats, vats of wine and whiskey, and molding cheeses, and the upper two stories housed large stocks of food and clothing. Schneider also operated a wagon yard south and west of the store, complete with two camp houses for travelers. After Schneider's death the store was managed by a son F. Ralph Schneider, who added a saloon in the rear of the building after the repeal of prohibition in 1933. Business operations ceased in 1935, and the structure has since housed electrical and lumber companies, and as art gallery. It has been damaged twice by fire in recent years, and is still owned by the Schneider family. (1974)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Jacob Peter "Jake" Schneider got his start in the mid-1860s clerking in a general store and working as a page in the Texas Capitol, and by about 1870 he and his mother had opened their own store in Austin. As the business grew he built this two-story brick building in 1873, its basement stocked with meats, wine, whiskey, and cheese, its upper floors packed with food and clothing, and a wagon yard behind it for travelers. The store stayed in the family for generations, later adding a saloon after Prohibition's repeal before closing in 1935.
Why it matters
The Schneider store shows how a German immigrant family built a thriving mercantile business in frontier-era Austin, serving both townspeople and the travelers who camped in its wagon yard.
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Related people
- · Jacob Peter Schneider
- · Margarita Schneider
- · William Brueggerhoff
Themes & tags
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