Bertram Building
1601 Guadalupe St., Austin, TXThe Bertram Building is a rare surviving commercial building from Austin's early days of wagon road trade, and it is nominated to the National Register of Historic Places under Criterion A (local level) in the area of commerce.
Rudolph C. Bertram, who immigrated to Texas from Germany in 1853, purchased the city block on which the Bertram Building stands over two years from 1860 to 1862. Bertram's block was an "outlot," meaning it was outside the original 1839 city plat, in a government tract called Division E, an area sometimes informally referred to as the "back of the Capitol." In this suburban location, the Bertram complex of general store, saloon, wagon yard, blacksmith, and hotel from the 1870s to the 1890s, served farmers, traders, and travelers from the surrounding agricultural areas and beyond, who would arrive by wagon road rather than railroad. As new settlers continued to arrive in Austin and settle the Division E outlots primarily with residences, the shop turned to a more local focus, converting to a grocery in 1900. However, the Bertram Building is one of the only remaining commercial structures in Division E to reflect Austin's early past of trade with regional farmers and others who arrived in the city via wagon road.
Rudolph Bertram's individual career also represents Austin's civic and commercial development. After establishing a strong base in his local retail establishment, Bertram expanded into a wholesale business, maintaining trade relationships for export of agricultural goods and import of manufactured goods from other parts of the United States. As a complement to his business endeavors, Bertram was also a city alderman, a land speculator, and a director of the First National Bank of Austin. He was also involved in infrastructure projects, most significantly the Austin and Northwestern narrow gauge railway, which named one of its depot towns, Bertram, TX, after him. The Bertram Building is nominated to the National Register of Historic Places under Criterion A (local level) in the area of commerce for its ties to regional trade and travel. The period of significance extends from 1866 to 1914, after which the building stood vacant for over twenty-five years.
Listed in National Register of Historic Places in 2012.
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.