Brick

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Streets of Granger Historical Marker, Granger, Texas

The history of bricked Davilla Street begins long before

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its actual conception and construction in 1912.

Its history is rooted in the long, long ago, in the midst of the first hardy pioneers who answered the call to settle a

nation, to tame the prairie that would one day be the State of Texas. Its history lies in the toil and blood sweat of those who were destined to transform that prairie into the lush, fertile farmland that surrounds the township.

Its history continued through the early 1800s when one A.S Fischer acquired some 2000 plus acres of prairie in this area, who in 1884 laid the groundwork that would provide the site for grand Davilla Street's reality. In that year of 1884, Fischer sold "for valuable consideration, received and acknowledged" one-half interest in 175 acres of this prairie to on W.C. Belcher. Together the two men formed a partnership and platted a town to be called Granger. The result was the original Town of Granger, consisting of 58 blocks. Later, W.H. Walton of Austin, who owned vast acreage to the west of this original township, platted the Walton Addition to the City of Granger. Such turns of events set the stage and provided the setting for the subject West Davilla in the Walton Addition and East Davilla in the Original Township of Granger. But

before the street came to brick being, the platted lots had to be sold, homes constructed, water systems installed, etc.

Seemingly, the

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available lots were quickly purchased in record numbers.

The railroad had come and with it prosperity to the local citizenry. They, in turn, started various business enterprises and built opulent buildings in which to house them along the vast muddy expanse that was Davilla Street at that point in time. That particular situation is aptly described by Ed Hruska in his written account, "My Recollections of Granger in 1908". In these recollections, he recounts the following: "When we moved to Granger in 1908, there were no graveled or paved streets or cement sidewalks. A few streets were topped with cinders from the oil mill, which they regretted Cater because the acid in the cinders destroyed that water pipes in no time. What sidewalks there were, were built of lumber, and even most of the business places only had boardwalks in front of their stores. At every intersection, there were largely flat, white limestone rocks placed about one foot apart on the ground in all four directions, and you would step from one rock to another in order to cross the street

in bad weather. Of course, you could wade through knee-deep mud and water if you prefer. It was not until-1912 that Main Street (Davilla) was paved (bricked)".

As stated earlier

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, these conditions of mud and mire prompted the populace to ponder on how to go about rectifying this blight on their otherwise beautiful township.

By this time, many of the town's most historic

edifices were already in place. On the west side, the SPJST Fraternal building was erected in 1909, as well as the OR Bartosh building in the N/W corner of the intersection of Davilla and Rio Grande Streets. On the east side of the tracks, along muddy Davilla Street, the red granite first National Bank and the majestic Storrs Opera House already stood in majestic splendor. Thus, the far-visioned city fathers decided that bricking that vast and muddy expanse would be the ideal solution. Records indicate that this project was completed in 1912- another seemingly impossible dream realized with seemingly uncanny ease.

For many eras thereafter, bricked Davilla Street basked in its splendor

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, a jewel surpassed by a few of its ilk in the entire State of Texas.

But with each ensuing generation, its historical value was less and less appreciated and vastly diminished. Waterline repairs gouged ugly ruts along its path. In 1968, with the inception of FM 971, the upkeep and maintenance of its east end fell to the care and maintenance of the State Highway Department, who promptly decided to tar and paved the thoroughfare. Maintenance of the rail tracks caused additional paving over of the historical brick underlay. Today, only 600 or so feet on the west side retain their original brick facade. It is this small segment and its survival that is deserving of historic designation. Today, efforts are underway to uncover the original brick street in its entirety. An impossible task? No! Not if we, the present populace, have one-tenth of the grit and daring-do of our forefathers who took on the far more formidable task of the bricking in the first place. We owe it to them and to ourselves and to our posterity to restore their legacy to its former grandeur. We who destroyed it have the corresponding responsibility to

restore it. Are we equal to this task.? Only time will tell, securing Historic designation for the fragment that remains s but the first step in the task that lies ahead.

From the street's viewpoint, how heavy the weight of the tar that covers its being must be, how suffocating, how demeaning, how degrading to the pristine bricks which carry a load of degradation to the self, silently and patiently, awaiting the day when a new generation will surface, one that is equal to the legacy of the one who had the vision and fortitude to

construct it. Are we that generation? I hope so. I sincerely hope so, because we are the last generation who still remember this street as it was. If we do not bear witness, the generation that follows will never know its historic heritage.

In applying for marker status for this remaining segment of bricked Davilla Street, we are

attempting to transmit that historical heritage to the generations that follow.

Author of this narrative

: the late Loretta Skrovan T Mikulencak