Klockman - Elzner Home
Bastrop, Bastrop County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Henry Klockman (1852-1897) and his wife bought this land in 1894 and built this home about 1895. Klockman operated a blacksmith shop until his death. His widow supported their son by taking in boarders. She sold the residence in 1910 to P. O. Elzner, Jr. After a fire in the spring of 1926, D. F. Holland purchased the property and the first remodeling was done. When Holland died, his widow rented part of the dwelling to young adults who became some of Bastrop's leading citizens. Her extensive diaries about life in the house are in the Bastrop County Museum. (1979) Incise in base: Restored by Dr. and Mrs. R. H. Carpenter, 1976
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
German-born blacksmith Henry Klockman and his wife bought this Bastrop lot in 1894 and built the house about 1895, where he worked his forge until his death two years later. His widow supported their son by taking in boarders, and after a 1926 fire the property passed to new owners who remodeled it. One later resident kept extensive diaries of daily life in the house that now reside in the Bastrop County Museum.
Why it matters
The home of a working tradesman preserves the everyday texture of a small Texas town, where a blacksmith's forge and a widow's boarding house were the fabric of the local economy.
Own a business near here? Add it to the map.
Related people
- · Henry Klockman
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Home Town of Texas Confederate Major Joseph D. Sayers
Bastrop, TX
Joseph D. Sayers enlisted at Bastrop as a private in 1861 and rose through the Confederate ranks, winning a captaincy for gallantry at Valverde and organizing an artillery battery from cannons captured there. Wounded repeatedly in the Red River campaigns and the fighting in Louisiana, he served as a staff officer to Generals Tom Green and Richard Taylor. He returned home on crutches and later became a state senator, lieutenant governor, U.S. congressman, and, from 1899 to 1903, governor of Texas during the Spindletop oil strike and the Galveston hurricane.
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.
Crocheron-McDowall House
Bastrop, TX
New York native Henry Crocheron and his wife Mary Ann built this Greek Revival house around 1857, when Crocheron was among Bastrop's leading citizens with interests in lumber, land, and cotton. The couple raised their niece 'Mollie' Nicholson McDowall here; after her husband's death she inherited the home, ran a music school in it, and later became a noted clubwoman in Houston. It was recorded as a Texas Historic Landmark in 1962.
Pfeiffer Home
Bastrop, TX
A native of Bastrop and a busy local builder, Joseph R. Pfeiffer put up many of the town's homes and buildings around the turn of the twentieth century. In 1901 he built this fine residence for his bride, Freda, deliberately making it a showcase of quality materials and craftsmanship to advertise his skills and win new business. As his family grew to six children, Pfeiffer, who ran a lumber company and mill, enlarged the house to fit them.