Ryus Store Building
Graham, Young County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Druggist Joseph E. Ryus (1848-1909) built this structure of locally made bricks in 1879 after his frame store on this lot burned. The large room above Ryus's drugstore served as Judge Andrew P. McCormick's first courtroom in 1879 when Graham was named site of a federal district court, which later moved to Abilene. Since purchasing the building in 1892, Knights of Pythias Corinthian Lodge No. 143 has used the upper floor as a meeting hall. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1974
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
In 1879, after fire destroyed his frame store, druggist Joseph E. Ryus rebuilt on the same Graham lot in locally fired brick — a statement of permanence in a young frontier county seat. The room above his drugstore became Judge Andrew P. McCormick's first federal district courtroom that same year, before the court decamped for Abilene. Since 1892 the Knights of Pythias have kept their lodge hall on the upper floor, giving the building an unbroken civic life for over a century.
Why it matters
It captures how a single main-street building could serve commerce, federal justice, and fraternal community all at once in a settling West Texas town.
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Related people
- · Joseph E. Ryus
- · Andrew P. McCormick
Themes & tags
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