Main at Commerce

29 July 1916: The 100 block of Main Street was Houston’s first business section developed in the mid-19th century. By the early 20th century blocks further south had become more active, and this first block became more of a wholesale area, with business offices on upper floors. 1a. 101-105 Main / 1002-1010 Commerce: Flaxman Dry Goods & Notion Company, Thomas Flaxman (1875-1965) and his brother Max Flaxman (1881-1920), wholesale fruits; 1b. 105 1/2 Main: Converse Building, "Marshall Printing Company" Arch L. Marshall proprietor and other printers, cotton brokers, contractors, and surprisingly, T. Morioki, Japanese goods; 113 Main: F. W. Heitmann wholesale hardware, founder Frederick William Heitmann (1828-1889), manager Frederick August Heitmann (1858-1955); 1c. 117 Main: Dorsey Printing Co. of Dallas, Texas, Houston branch manager Robert H. Swartz (1864-1953); 1d. 119 Main: Houston Land & Trust Building, offices of lawyers, brokers, real estate agents, insurance brokers; 2. 201-205 Main: First National Bank, 8th floor offices of Kirby Lumber Co, John Henry Kirby, Sr. (1860-1940), president, 8 floors, 1904, expansions 1909, 1925; 3. 405 Main: Scanlan Building, 12 floors, 1909; [Banners in the middle of Main Street]; 4. 806 Main: Carter Building, 17 floors, 1910; 5. 909 Texas: Rice Hotel, 17 floors, opened 1913; 6. 220 Main: Union National Bank, 12 floors, 1910; 7. 202 Main: Houston National Exchange Bank (1909-1928); 8. 917 Franklin: Commercial National Bank Building, 6 floors, 1870; 9. 114 Main: Dorrance & Company, John Maynard Dorrance (1852-1935)[who lived at the Savoy], cotton broker, 4 floors, 1903 (5th floor added 1931); 10. 110 Main: Raphael Brothers building, Emanuel Raphael (1847-1913) and Moses Raphael (1850-1908), 3 floors, 1876; 11. 108 Main: Brewster Building, Gustav W. Tips, harnesses / Max C. Otto, heavy hauling; 3 floors, 1873; 12. 102-104 Main: Baldwin & Cargill wholesale fruits, Benjamin Arthur Baldwin (1862-1944) and Thomas Arthur Cargill (1872-1942). Thomas Arthur Cargill was the brother of Ennis Cargill (1869-1938) of the printing firm Cargill Company [See Savoy for Jack Doebele, who worked at Cargill printing].

1. 101 Main: UH Downtown Commerce Street building, 4 floors, 2005; 2.201 Main: Franklin Lofts, a residence (formerly the First National Bank), 8 floors, 1904, expansions 1909, 1925 / with parking garage that replaced the South Texas National Bank; 3. 1001 Preston: Harris County Administration Building (Harris County Annex #43), 10 floors, 1978; 4. 405 Main: Scanlan Building, 12 floors, 1909; 5. 811 Main: Main Place, 46 floors, 2008-2011; 6. 1021 Main: One City Centre, 32 floors, 1959-1961; 7. 1000 Main: Reliant Energy Plaza, 36 floors, 2003; 8. 712 Main: Gulf Building, 36 floors, 1929; 9. 909 Texas: Rice Hotel, 18 floors (17 to start in 1913), only the top floor is seen here, added 1951; 10. 220 Main: Hotel Icon (Union National Bank renovated to a hotel in 2003), 12 floors, 1910; 11. 917 Franklin: Commercial National Bank Building, 6 floors, 1870; 12. 114 Main: Dorrance Building, 4 floors, 1903 (5th floor added 1931); 13. 110 Main: Raphael Building, 3 floors, 1876 / 108 Main: Brewster Building, 3 floors, 1873; 14. 948 Commerce: Bayou Lofts Parking Garage. 

Postmarked: 29 July 1916; Houston, Texas “C”
Stamp: 1c Green George Washington #405
 
To: Johanna M Hoffman
1411 Nixon street
Allegheny Pa
 
Message: July 28 / 1916
Nice Town here but Hot. Hope all well Best Wishes from Adam
 

​Adam, a mature businessman of 58, was visiting Houston during its hottest season on banking business in his position as head of the real estate department at Manchester Saving Bank & Trust. He and his wife, Johanna M. Hoffman, were long-time residents just downriver of the center or Pittsburgh, PA. Out of habit he addressed his postcard to Allegheny, PA, but the suburb had been incorporated into the city in 1907. He grew up in Allegheny, and his father Conrad, born in Darmstadt, Grand Duchy of Hesse, arrived to America in Baltimore on the Julius on 11 November 1854, soon settling in the Pittsburgh area. In 1855 he married Elizabeth Geyer, also born in Hesse, and they spent the rest of their lives there.
 
In 1916 Pittsburgh was America’s 9th largest city with 534, 000 citizens, a major manufacturing center at its peak of influence and importance to the economy of the nation. Houston was only a fifth of that size, but growing fast; in 1910 the population was 78,800, but ten years later had nearly doubled to 138,300. Its importance was only beginning as oil discoveries in Texas were rapidly making it the energy capitol of the nation. With such growth, the real estate market was explosive, and no doubt Adam found it a compelling opportunity. It is unclear whether he was able to return for subsequent business efforts. 

Conrad and Elizabeth had 5 children: 1) Adam, 1858; 2) Elizabeth, 1860; 3) George, 1867; 4) Lena, 1870; 5) Margaret, 1873. No doubt the parents were bilingual German and English as they were raising their children, and attended the First German Presbyterian Church in their neighborhood. Some immigrant families of the day would spurn teaching their children the language of the old country, but whether the children picked up any German isn’t evident here. As the eldest, Adam was the first to strike out on his own, finding work by 1880 as a shipping clerk and a separate residence at #9 Belmont Street with his new wife, Johanna Kohlhaas, daughter of Charles and Margrette Kohlhaas;  Conrad lived barely a mile away on the outskirts north of town at #103 Wilkins Avenue. Adam’s mother died in 1894, his father Conrad lived nearly another 20 years a widower when he died in 1913; they are buried in Union Dale Cemetery not far from where they spent most of their lives. 
 
Adam and Johanna had 7 children, two died young: 1) John George, 1883; 2) Elizabeth J., 1885-1889; 3) Elmer C., 1887-1890; twins 4) Mabel Johanna and 5) Laura May, 1892; 6) Stella Anna, 1894; and 7) Charles Lindsay, 1896. When Adam mailed the postcard to Houston, he left Johanna (55) in charge of the family. Their eldest John George (33), was on his own with his wife Bertha Vetter Hoffman; at home were the twins Mabel and Laura (23) working as stenographers and Charles (19) working as a clerk. 
 
Adam retired after a long career and remained in Allegheny for the rest of his life. He died in 1939 and was buried in Union Dale Cemetery not far from his father. Also in Union Dale are his wife, Johanna (1860-1944), their children, Elizabeth (1885-1889), Elmer (1887-1890), and Stella Hoffman Gillespie (1894-1989), as well as Adam’s sisters Lena (1870-1954) and Elizabeth Hoffman Zapf (1860-1951). His other sister, Margaret Hoffman Moore (1873-1944) and her husband, Benjamin Moore (1872-1959) with whom Conrad and Lena had lived for a number of years, are buried in Allegheny County Memorial Park in Allison Park, Allegheny County, PA. Johanna’s parents are buried in Spring Cemetery in Springboro, Crawford County, PA about 100 miles north of Pittsburgh: Charles Kohlhaas (1828-1912), Margrette Hertel Kohlhaas (1838-1893).