Zapp Building
Fayetteville, Fayette County, Texas
Marker Inscription
German native Hugo Zapp established his mercantile business in Fayetteville in 1865. In 1900, after a fire had burned his wooden store at this site, Zapp had this 2-story brick building constructed. Intended to be the finest structure in the city, the Romanesque revival building features decorative brickwork in a checkerboard pattern. In 1915 another merchant, F.C. Knippel, bought the store, and it was operated by his family for more than fifty years. RTHL - 1983
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
German immigrant Hugo Zapp opened his mercantile business in Fayetteville in 1865, and after fire destroyed his wooden store he had this two-story brick building erected in 1900. Meant to be the finest structure in town, its Romanesque revival design features decorative brickwork laid in a striking checkerboard pattern. In 1915 merchant F. C. Knippel bought the store, and his family ran it for more than fifty years.
Why it matters
The Zapp Building reflects the enterprise of German immigrant merchants who built the commercial backbone of Central Texas's small towns.
Own a business near here? Add it to the map.
Related people
- · Hugo Zapp
- · F. C. Knippel
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Sarrazin Store
Fayetteville, TX
German immigrant brothers Edward and Leopold Sarrazin opened a mercantile in Fayetteville in 1875 and moved it into this building in 1890. Under one roof they sold groceries, dry goods, and hardware up front, kept feed, wagons, and farm equipment in the rear warehouse, and even raised chickens in the yard to ship to Houston by rail. Passed from Leopold to Edward and on to Edward Jr., the store thrived with as many as eighteen clerks until it finally closed in 1967.
Site of Svrcek Building
Fayetteville, TX
An 1890s commercial building on Fayetteville's square anchored a corner of small-town life through the twentieth century, its false front and double doors sheltering a succession of businesses. Owned by the Svrcek family until 1979, it housed the Meith brothers' meat market in the 1920s and two beloved cafés—the Mynar and Evelyn's—before fading into storage. Vacant at last, it was razed in 2012, leaving only this marker.
Schiege House
Round Top, TX
Prussian immigrants Charles and Caroline Schiege acquired land in this German-settled corner of Fayette County in 1861. Their only surviving child, Charles Henry Jr., built a two-story home here about 1885 and, after being widowed, raised ten children with his second wife. Beyond farming, he ran a local cigar factory and served Round Top as justice of the peace, mayor, marshal, and alderman.
Schiege Cigar Factory Manager's House
Round Top, TX
Around 1882, German immigrant Charles Schiege opened a cigar factory at Round Top, staffing it largely with single men who slept in the building's attic. For his factory manager — usually a married man — Schiege built this modest German vernacular cottage. Among its early residents was manager Paul Herman Helmecke, who lived here with his wife Martha and their five children in the 1880s and 1890s, part of the close-knit German community that shaped this corner of Fayette County.