Fawcett Furniture Building (1882)

Fawcett Furniture Building (1882). 820 Water Street. , The original building was a two-room pioneer homestead where local tradesmen gathered. From 1882 to 1904 this was the site of Walter E. Williams' "Household Furniture Store," where Willis Augustus "W. A." Fawcett worked for Mr. Williams in 1902, and according to Williams, Fawcett "was all right, I guess, but he don't know a kitchen safe from a wardrobe." In 1904 Fawcett bought out Williams and renamed it "W. A. Fawcett and Co.", In 1907 the old building was removed and a 3000 sq. ft. two-story building was erected, built of rusticated concrete block known as Basse block., Rusticated concrete was concrete block made to look like stone, popular nationally 1905 to 1930. The upper story was used for a meeting hall until 1914 when the business needed more floor space for its own operations., Fawcett tripled the size of the building in 1919 and further expanded in 1924 to its current size. By 1940, W. A. Fawcett Furniture was the largest furniture store between San Antonio and San Angelo., W. A. Fawcett served as Mayor of Kerrville 1940-1944. While he was mayor, the airport runway, then between Kerrville and Ingram, was expanded for Army Air Force pilot training. Land was being obtained by eminent domain from local farmers for this purpose., One farmer was so angry about this that he and his brother accosted Fawcett outside the store, attacking and beating him, biting a piece of his left ear off. The ear was found and successfully reattached at the local hospital, the first such surgery ever in Kerrville., The building was restored in 1987 by C. D. "Dash" Peterson.