Kleinert Building
Bastrop, Bastrop County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Prussian immigrant Carl Kleinert and his wife, Marie (Wilke), moved to Bastrop in the early 1860s. One of many early German merchants in Bastrop, Kleinert built his grocery and mercantile on this site in 1868. The building has housed many businesses and retains its historic detailing, including pressed metal cornices, wood storefront and cast iron columns, much of which dates to the early 1890s, after the Kleinert and adjacent Kesselus buildings suffered a fire. The building remained in the Kleinert family until 1931 and, today, serves as a reminder of Bastrop's early commercial district. Recorded Texas Historic Llandmark - 2003
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Prussian immigrant Carl Kleinert and his wife Marie settled in Bastrop in the early 1860s, joining a sizable community of German merchants. In 1868 he built this grocery and mercantile, which after an 1890s fire gained the pressed-metal cornices, cast-iron columns, and wood storefront it still wears. The building stayed in the Kleinert family until 1931 and has since housed a succession of businesses.
Why it matters
It stands as a well-preserved reminder of the German immigrant merchants who built the commercial heart of many a 19th-century Texas town.
Own a business near here? Add it to the map.
Related people
- · Carl Kleinert
- · Marie Wilke Kleinert
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Kesselus Building
Bastrop, TX
William Kesselus, a German immigrant, arrived in Bastrop in 1853 and set up as a tailor. In 1891 this building replaced his earlier frame shop, and his son Will carried on the business until 1919. It later held a succession of mercantile stores and stands as a marker of German influence in Bastrop.
P. O. Elzner House
Bastrop, TX
P. O. Elzner emigrated from Germany and settled in Bastrop in 1858, and by 1878 had built this Victorian house of local Bastrop pine, complete with Eastlake detailing on its curved porch. The site looked down on the Colorado River docks where goods for Elzner's store came ashore, tying the home to the town's river commerce. His son Bruno enlarged it, and three generations of Elzners lived there before it passed to new owners in 1968.
Leshikar House
Smithville, TX
This Folk Victorian home was built in 1900 by premier local builder Virgil Sullivan Rabb Jr. Its longtime owner, Joseph Charles 'JC' Leshikar, was the son of Czech immigrants who bought his first Smithville saloon at 24, then expanded into land, oil and gas, and banking, raising his family here from 1903 to 1976.
City of Elgin Centennial, 1872-1972
Elgin, TX
Elgin took shape in 1872 after the Houston & Texas Central Railroad crossed the area, and was named for the line's land commissioner, Robert M. Elgin. From 1882, when Thomas O'Connor began making hand-molded, sun-dried brick, the town became famous for its brick and tile. Settlers of six ethnic backgrounds gave the community a lasting cultural richness reflected in its homes, churches, and schools.