Category: Tours of Downtown

circa 1885. M.B. Lockett’s prominence as a successful dry goods merchant is reflected in this impressive limestone and brick building, which was remodeled in 1896. One of Georgetown’s most outstanding examples of High Victorian commercial architecture, it features Mesker Brothers cast iron columns, an oriel windows and decorative pressed metal cornice.

119 W. 7th Street

circa 1903. This pressed metal storefront is one of the nearly 5,000 sold by the St. Louis firm of Mesker Brothers between 1884 and 1907. Marketed by catalog and shipped by rail, these metal fronts offered affordable yet stylish alternatives for the “public” facades of buildings. H.C. Craig Furniture store opened in this building in 1903.

115 W. 7th Street

circa 1907.  Shortly after the turn of the 20th century, this block of one-story commercial spaces was completed. The limestone structure featured a plastered front with handsome segmental arched openings.

107-111 E. 7th Street

circa 1902.  Hand-hewn limestone was used to exemplify the Romanesque Revival style, popular in Texas in the early 1900’s. The three-dimensional quality of the richly carved details is a dramatic contract to the utilitarian austerity of the Shaffer Building next door.

713 Main Street

circa 1890.  Hand-hewn limestone, cast iron, and pressed metal components were creatively combined in this noteworthy Victorian commercial building. Nameplates from the Mesker Brothers ironworks are visible on the first floor pilasters. The building is still owned by the descendants of the Dimmitt family.

719 Main Street

Departing from the local tradition of limestone, these buildings feature imported brick facades accented by cast iron columns attributed to F. Heireman, an Austin metalwork company. Originally each featured identical metal hood molds over the windows and crowning metal cornices. A stepped brick parapet later replaced the cornice on 709 Main. Both buildings are owned by the Williamson County Sun which has published from this located since 1934.

707-709 Main Street

With its wooden storefront, recessed double-door entry, and decorative metal cornice, this early store typified commercial building traditions of its day. Early records indicate its use as a grocery store, followed by continuous retail and grocery occupation.

117 W. 7th Street

circa 1971.  An early wooden structure on this site once housed a restaurant, a barber shop and a pool hall and confectionery, but by 1925 the site was empty. City offices were moved into the present structure in 1971.

103 W. 7th Street

circa 1885.  An early limestone structure with carved cornices stands beneath the modern stucco facade. Early uses of the building included a local lodge meeting hall on the second floor, and a hardware/grocery store and later, the county’s oldest newspaper, the Williamson County Sun, on the first floor. Now city owned, it houses the Georgetown History and Visitor Information Center.

101 W. 7th Street