Old Rialto Building
Texarkana, Bowie County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Erected 1902 by George Fouke (1843-1915), pioneer businessman, leader in lumbering, railroads, electric power, other ventures. Triangular style resembles New York's Flatiron Building, also erected 1902. One of the earliest Texarkana buildings with electricity. First used for offices, became apartment hotel. Was converted by Dr. E. L. Beck in 1934 to medical building. Later property of Dr. N. B. Daniel and Dr. William B. Harrell. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1966
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Pioneer businessman George Fouke erected this distinctive triangular building in 1902, the same year New York's famous Flatiron rose, and its wedge shape earned it a similar nickname. Fouke was a driving force in Texarkana's lumbering, railroads, and electric power, and his building was among the first in town wired for electricity. Over the decades it served as offices, an apartment hotel, and later a medical building.
Why it matters
The Rialto reflects the boomtown energy of a railroad city at the dawn of the electric age, and the entrepreneurs who wired and built the modern Southwest.
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Related people
- · George Fouke
Themes & tags
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