National Register Listing

Schneider, J. P., Store

401 W. 2nd St., Austin, TX

The Schneider store has survived since 1873 with only a few alterations. The style is a simple commercial Victorian architecture characteristic of Austin at that time. Unlike many of the other commercial buildings which were located on Sixth Street, the Schneider store was located on Second Street, across from Jacob Schneider's residence.

Jacob Schneider opened his first general mercantile store in 1865. His family had moved from New Braunfels to Austin when he was a small boy, but his parents were originally from Germany. By the time Jacob was fourteen, his father had died and he was earning money for his family by making Confederate ammunition— until the Yankees chased the southern army out of Austin. Jacob then worked for the Union army as a camp errand boy. The Major of the Company befriended him and arranged for Jacob to work in William Bruegerhoff's mercantile store. It was Bruegerhoff who helped Jacob get his own store in 1865. The Schneider store was so successful that Jacob and his mother, Margarita Schneider, opened a second store in 1873 and converted the old shop into a "flour house". Jacob's brother, John, was the contractor for the new store, but Jacob designed the building himself.

This building was located on Guadalupe and Live Oak—now Second Street—across the street from the Schneider's home and flour house. Shoppers came from all over the city and sometimes from as great a distance as New Braunfels to buy goods at Schneider's store. There was no bridge crossing the Colorado then and people in wagons would ford the river where Nueces Street runs today, and come up Live Oak to Jacob's wagon yard on the southwest side of the store. The yard accommodated fifty wagons and there were two camp houses for visitors as well.

The store housed a multifarious number of goods: cotton, furs, flour, fish, sugar, salt, meat, farm implements, fruits and vegetables, shoes and boots, tombstones and coffins. The basement was used to store wine and molding cheese while the upper floors were for food and clothing. Besides these saleable items, Jacob's store offered plenty of hospitality and it was a popular spot for friendly gatherings. Jacob was community oriented; he served as city alderman from 1884-1896 and again from 1901-1905. His store was opened to the community, whether for shopping, meetings, or just conversation.

When Jacob died in 1925 the store went to his wife, Mary, and their youngest son, Ralph, managed it. Ralph opened a pecan shelling plant, and after prohibition, in 1933 he added a saloon in the rear of the store. Soon afterwards, Ralph opened another store on South Congress Avenue and the Schneider store ceased business operations in 1935. The building was leased to an electric company and suffered from its first fire. After restoration the store was leased to Calcasieu Lumber Company who leased the building for ten years and then sub-leased it to the Orleans Art Gallery. In 1971 a second fire occurred. The building was again remodeled and leased to its present occupants, the Economy Engraving Company.

This Victorian building with its geometrically patterned brick cornice is one of the few reminders of early Austin's commercial architecture. The fact that this store was away from the main commercial district but was still successful helps demonstrate the importance it had to the developing Austin community.

Local significance of the building:
Listed in National Register of Historic Places in 1979.