Old Federal Building
Victoria, Victoria County, Texas
Marker Inscription
This Italian Renaissance Revival building was constructed in 1911-13 to serve as the United States Post Office and Federal Courthouse. Otto P. Kroeger and Company of San Antonio was the contractor, and James Knox Taylor served as the supervising architect. Federal offices were located here until they moved to a new site in 1961. Four years later, the building became headquarters for Frels Theatres, Inc., a regional entertainment company. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1981
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
This Italian Renaissance Revival building went up in 1911–13 to serve as Victoria's United States Post Office and Federal Courthouse, built by San Antonio contractor Otto P. Kroeger and Company under supervising architect James Knox Taylor. Federal offices worked here until 1961, and four years later the building became headquarters for the regional Frels Theatres chain. Its dignified design reflects the Progressive-era era of monumental federal architecture in county seats.
Why it matters
Grand federal buildings like this brought the presence and permanence of the national government to small American cities in the early twentieth century.
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Related people
- · James Knox Taylor
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
The Victoria Advocate
Victoria, TX
The Victoria Advocate began in 1846 as the weekly Texan Advocate, its first issue printed on May 8—the very day of the Battle of Palo Alto, the opening fight of the Mexican War—prompting a special extra edition. Founded by experienced newspapermen Thomas Sterne and John Davis Logan, it changed names several times before becoming the Victoria Advocate around 1859–61 and adding a daily edition in 1897. It is the second-oldest continuously operating newspaper in Texas.
Victoria Advocate
Victoria, TX
Established on May 8, 1846, just as Texas entered the Union, the Victoria Advocate became the second-oldest surviving newspaper in the state. Its early editors and contributors included noted historians and Confederate generals William R. Scurry and A. P. Bagby, reflecting the paper's deep ties to Texas civic and military life. George H. French took over as publisher in 1901, continuing a journalistic tradition that had already endured more than half a century.
Hauschild Opera House
Victoria, TX
German immigrant George Herman Hauschild came to Victoria after his 1866 marriage and, having built a prominent business, opened an opera house here in 1894. Occupying the top two floors above the family's music store, the theatre hosted vaudeville, plays, and silent films under the management of his son H.J. Hauschild. As "talking pictures" won over audiences, the opera house closed during the 1930s.
Brownson's Bank
Victoria, TX
John Milton Brownson, a Confederate veteran raised in nearby DeWitt County, opened a grocery in Victoria in 1866 and the next year founded the town's first bank in a modest frame building on Main Street. Through a string of partnerships and reorganizations it grew into the First National Bank of Victoria in 1889, with Brownson as its first president, and carried on under later names as a pillar of the local economy for generations.