Karger Building
Comfort, Kendall County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Ernst Karger (1861-1922), who owned and operated a saloon on the adjoining property, had this building constructed in 1913. Fritz Anderwald’s pool hall was first to occupy the building, and several other businesses have been located here over the years. Fred Koerlin operated a cabinetry business here after 1951, removing the original storefront and installing garage doors; the façade was later restored. The frame building features a recessed storefront with large pane windows. George L. Mesker & Co. of Evansville, Indiana manufactured the building’s decorative pressed metal façade, pediment and siding.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Saloon owner Ernst Karger had this building raised in 1913 next to his business in the German-founded town of Comfort. Its first tenant was Fritz Anderwald's pool hall, and over the years a succession of enterprises followed, including a cabinet shop that swapped the storefront for garage doors before a later restoration. The frame building's showpiece is its decorative pressed-metal facade, pediment, and siding, manufactured by the George L. Mesker & Co. of Evansville, Indiana.
Why it matters
The Karger Building preserves an example of the mail-order metal storefronts that gave small American towns their commercial character in the early twentieth century.
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Related people
- · Ernst Karger
Themes & tags
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