Jureczki House
607 Cypress St., Bandera, TXConstructed in 1876 by the Polish emigrant Frank Jureczki, the well-preserved Jureczki House is an outstanding example of indigenous Polish pioneer architecture in central Texas in the second half of the 19th century. Among the original sixteen pioneer families who founded the Polish Community in Bandera, Frank Jureczki was the only member to achieve a fine 2 story Alsatian-styled residence, in a relatively poor community of crude log cabins and modest stone cottages. Located across the street from St. Stanislaus Catholic Church, built by Polish settlers in the same year, the structure housed a store and saloon on the first floor and continued through the years to fill a vital role in the social and religious life of the Polish community in Bandera.
Frank Jureczki and his wife, Carolina, were members of a group comprised of Polish emigrant peasants, who arrived in Bandera in February 1855, after an arduous trip from the old country. They landed in Galveston in January 1855 and were transported to Indianola, from whence they traveled by foot and wagon to Victoria and San Antonio. In San Antonio, they were met by Charles de Montel, owner of the land around Bandera, who took them to Castroville and Quihi. Upon their arrival in Bandera, entrepreneurs John James and Charles de Montel offered each man in the party a lot in the new town, which had been laid out in 1853. They also sold small tracts of farmland in the vicinity to many of them. Frank Jureczki's farm site was located near the town and occupied a section of the present Flying L Ranch. A carved inscription on the small log cabin on this property indicated that Jureczki built it in 1856. According to family documents, Jureczki continued to run stock on his country property after his family had moved into their town residence twenty years later.
The early Polish settlers in Bandera faced numerous hardships in the wilderness, including disease and Indian raids on the settlement. When the Polish families arrived, there was a colony of Mormons in Bandera, but this group later moved to the Mormon Camp, a few miles south of town. Various entrepreneurs furnished the emigrants with work at a lumberyard and sawmill, and a Mormon businessman erected a flour mill that was constructed by Polish settlers. One of the first lumber industries in Bandera converted large cypress trees into lumber and shingles for local use and transportation to San Antonio.
Soon after the Polish settlers arrived, many pioneer houses were built and the social life of the community became active. Frank Jureczki's store and saloon, located directly across from the Catholic Church, was perhaps the most popular ga for the Polish Community. Jureczki and his wife reared five children in the primitive Bandera Polish Community, and in 1908, their son, Albert, took sole possession of the home. Albert continued to live in the house with his wife, Annie, and their three sons. One of his sons, Henry, and his wife, Thelma, lived in the former store area for nineteen years before building their own home next door. Their daughter, Thelma Jean, currently Mrs. Charles Kuhn of Denver, was born in the house. Albert Jureczki's wife died about 1930, and he continued to live in the house until his death in the 1950s. The only family member still living in Texas, Mrs. Thelma Jureczki, now a widow, continues to live next door and has served as treasurer of Bandera County for many years.
Listed in National Register of Historic Places in 1980.
The National Register of Historic Places is the official list of the Nation’s historic places worthy of preservation. Authorized by the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, the National Park Service’s National Register of Historic Places is part of a national program to coordinate and support public and private efforts to identify, evaluate, and protect America’s historic and archeological resources.