Almost daily I am surprised at the new tools available --
for free -- for historical research. These tools have allowed me to answer some
questions I'd pondered for a long time and they've revealed information I
researched on a whim.
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| Tivy Hotel, facing Main Street, Kerrville, 1899 |
That "Internet thing" might just catch on.
Take, for example, a long-running question about the old
Tivy Hotel. The building, which faces Tivy Street between Main and Jefferson
streets, once faced Main Street, or so I'd been told.
Looking at the structure I wondered if this tale was true. It
looks like it would be difficult to move. Why would someone go to such effort
and expense?
The Tivy Hotel was built by Kerrville's first mayor, Capt.
Joseph Tivy. Tivy was born in Toronto, Canada, in 1818. He grew up in Niagara County in New York, and at the age of 19 headed to Texas. In 1842 he acquired a
Texas land grant from the heirs of Thomas Hand, a tract that would prove
important in the formation of Kerrville. He served in the Texas Rangers under
Jack Hays. In 1849 he went to California in search of gold, where he made his
money operating a hotel. He served in the California legislature, and later the
Texas legislature. He came to Kerrville as a bachelor in 1872 with his two
spinster sisters; the three had made a pact never to marry.
Capt. Tivy broke that promise and married a Kerrville widow,
Ella Losee. One of the sisters must have been very upset by this; she moved
away from Kerrville. One sister stayed, Suson Tivy. (Her name is spelled Susan
in most books, but Suson at her grave.)
Captain Tivy died in 1892, and his buried beside his wife
Ella, his sister Suson, and one of Ella's cats at the top of "Tivy
Mountain," a rocky hill east of downtown.
Back to my question: was the Tivy Hotel really moved from facing
Main Street to its present location, facing Tivy Street?
Using the website newspaperarchive.com, I found a front page
story in the December 24, 1931 issue of the "Kerrville Times."
"A deal was closed Friday by which Richard Holdsworth
became owner of the Tivy House property."
He bought the property from Mrs. Dora Peak, who lived in Greenville,
Texas.
"A frontage of 100 feet on Main Street and 75 feet on
Tivy Street has been sold to the Magnolia Petroleum Co. for a filling station
site, corner of Main and Tivy. The hotel building will be turned to face Tivy
Street and moved back to the northeast of the filling station plot.
"W. B. Speagle of San Antonio has the contract for
moving the building, the work having already been started. Mrs. Irene Davis, who
has operated the Tivy House for several months, will continue it as a rooming
apartment."
The corner is no longer a gas station, though a gas station
building was probably the basis of the pharmacy building presently on the site.
I have a personal memory of the Tivy Hotel: my earliest
memory of going to work with my father. Before he bought the J. Marvin Hunter
Printing Company on Water Street (the site of our present shop), he operated a
printing company for a short time in rooms at the Tivy Hotel. If I remember
correctly, his first print shop was in the first room to the left of the front
door on the ground floor.
I'm thankful Richard Holdsworth, who would later serve as
mayor of Kerrville, chose to move the building instead of tearing it down. (I
wish others would follow his example.)
Incidentally, the building has been a part of the life of
three Kerrville mayors: the first, Tivy; the 17th, Holdsworth; and the 50th, a
"columnist."
Until next week, all the best.
Joe Herring Jr. is a Kerrville native who collects Kerrville
and Kerr County photographs. If you have an old photo of Kerrville you'd let
him scan, he would be very thankful. This column originally appeared May 19, 2012 in the Kerrville Daily Times.
That article was wonderful.
ReplyDeleteThank you for settling an issue that has bothered me for decades, whether the Tivy Hotel was really turned and relocated.
I, too, am thankful that the building was not torn down. Old buildings often have historical value and yet are lost to "progress."
Tivy hotel is Haunted... Very often. You should write a new article on this.
ReplyDeleteMy husband’s great-grandmother lived at 305 Tivy when she passed, according to her death certificate. I’m told this was at the Tivy Hotel. Her son-in-law had his chiropractic practice on the first floor. I believe I might have a photo of it in that day, before October, 1951. If you’d like to see it, let me know.
ReplyDeleteYes, I'd love to see the photo!
DeleteAre you still ticking I have a c1910 postcard image you are welcome to "View of Kerrville from Tivy House"
ReplyDeleteYes, thanks. Still ticking. 615 Water Street, Kerrville, 78028.
ReplyDeleteI lived at the Tivy Hotel for many years when it was converted to apartments. I was always so curious as to its history. This property is very paranormally activity. My first encounter was innocent enough. I was on the phone with my husband, late one night, and the apartment we had at the time was the one upstairs with the double doors with stained windows. I was staring blankly out towards the window, just enveloped in our conversation, when a figure formed right in front of me. It was a brown silhouette of a woman in turn of the century dress, walking from one end of the balcony through window, into the kitchen, passing into the bedroom and then vanished through the wall. It was the first but certainly not the last time we experienced that kind of activity in the house. I often wondered if a child has been born to the Captain, his wife, or a sister. My kids toys were often played with when no one was in the room. Another apparition was one of a little girl in a blue dress. One evening, there was blood curdling screaming coming from the apartment next door. It was the distinct scream of a woman. I called KPD who came out and knocked on the door next door. Anyone who lives or has lived there knows how very thin the walls are. The officers can be heard muttering to themselves about it being a crank call….until they heard the scream. “KPD OPEN UP!” No one ever answered. They eventually left. I didn’t hear the scream again after that. Those are just a few that stand out to me, but theres so much more…
ReplyDelete