Fohn-Bless Store

Historical marker location:

Hondo, Texas

( 1020 Eighteenth Street, Hondo.)

Marker installed: 1974

Store-residence built in D'Hanis about 1878 by John Fohn (1839-91), a native of Prussia. In addition to a general mercantile store, the structure was also the site of D'Hanis elections and a Justice of the Peace Court. In 1897, Rolf Frerichs (1833-1913) purchased the building from the Fohn Estate and moved it to this location. Frerichs' son-in-law, C.J. Bless (1864-1944), operated a store here until 1939. Medina Electric Cooperative occupied the building until 1963.

Recorded Texas Historic Landmark, 1974.

commercial buildings markets, mercantiles

The first oil well in the United States was drilled in Texas in 1859. The discovery of oil transformed the economy of the state and helped to make Texas one of the wealthiest states in the nation.