Titus County, Texas History - The Caldwell-Carr Building

The building located at what is currently 100 N. Jefferson Street was constructed in 1894 by Thomas Caldwell and Charles Carr. Thomas Caldwell and Charles Carr were both merchants in Franklin County's Gray Rock community who decided to relocate to Mount Pleasant. They joined forces after relocating to establish the Bullington Drug Store near the north end of the 100 block of North Jefferson, and later helped organize the First National Bank, which is now Bank of America, in Mount Pleasant. The First National Bank was located on the corner of North Jefferson and what is now East Second Street.

The Titus County Court House was destroyed by a fire of suspicious origin in 1895. In that day, the threat of fire was the largest danger to the town's existence. There were no water mains or fire hydrants, and no organized fire department to fight the fire. Water had to be drawn in buckets from wells located on and around the public square and carried and thrown onto the fire. Flaming embers from one building could ignite other buildings, which often led to the loss of entire blocks or even entire towns. There was no way to fight large fires, and several buildings on the east side of the square also burned. Two buildings at the north end of the public square on what is now Jefferson Street between East Second and East First Street burned down. The fire then jumped several buildings south and began burning in the Caldwell-Carr Building's attic, but was extinguished without serious damage. Charred rafters can still be seen in the attic.

The Temple Masonic Lodge, which was located on the north side of the square, burned on November 14, 1907, leaving the lodge without a meeting place. Mr. Caldwell, who was a lodge member, along with Mr. Carr, sold the Caldwell-Carr Building to the Temple Masonic Lodge on March 9, 1908. Temple Lodge No. 70, Ancient and Accepted Masons owned and used this building from 1908 until the 1970s, and the building became locally known as The Masonic Lodge building due to their long occupancy.

The Caldwell-Carr Building's design fulfilled the Masonic Lodge's needs very well because it had a second floor to use as a meeting hall. Masonic requirements stated that they could not hold their meetings on a first floor. The ground floor was used for social activity, and later rented out to provide income. The separate exterior door leading upstairs allowed members to come and go without disturbing the downstairs occupants. The stairs' winding design was in keeping with the Masonic Lodge's use of winding stairs patterned after King Solomon's Temple.

The Masonic Lodge rented their building's first floor for many years. Throughout the years, it was inhabited almost exclusively by grocers. Brown's Plain and Fancy Grocery, owned by the Brown Family of Mount Pleasant, was the first to rent the Masonic Lodge's ground floor.

Later, Wilson Jones and Ed Jones, brothers from Gilmer, Texas, moved to Mount Pleasant and opened the Jones Grocery Store, replacing Brown's as a ground-floor tenant. Wilson and Ed Jones soon dissolved their partnership, but Wilson Jones continued the grocery business in the same location. His grocery store soon became Mount Pleasant's first Piggly Wiggly Grocery Store.

Mr. and Mrs. J. A. Black were the next grocery merchants to rent the Masonic Lodge building's ground floor for the Black Grocery Store. Mr. Black was also a city Alderman from April, 1908 to April, 1915.

The Masonic Lodge failed to keep their building maintained and in good repair in the latter years that they owned it. Scarborough's Grocery moved from the Masonic Lodge building to a new location on the corner of South Jefferson and Alabama Street. The Masonic Lodge next leased the ground floor of their building to the Harold Smith Insurance Agency. Smith later moved into the building at 106 South Jefferson.

During the 1970s the building's condition forced the Masonic Lodge to decide whether to remodel the building or build a new building. The lodge decided to build at a new location, and a new Temple Masonic Lodge was erected on South Jefferson Avenue. The building which had been home to their lodge since 1908 was vacated.

In 1977, the Masonic Lodge sold their downtown building to Mr. and Mrs. Robert Baker or Mount Pleasant. Mr. Baker, a Certified Public Accountant, moved his practice into the Caldwell-Carr Building and remained there until 1985.

When pigeon nests plugged roof drains on the building occupied by Bullington's Drug Store (third down on the north end of the block) and the weight of water that collected on the roof during a heavy rain collapsed the roof. Luckily, no one was injured, but the Bullington Building had to be demolished and the debris removed. Mt. Pleasant contractor Royce Robertson used a crane and wrecking ball to demolish the Bullington Building. During its demolition, the wrecking ball's shock and weight of the rest of the Bullington roof collapsing severely damaged the two buildings immediately north of it, and they also had to be demolished and removed. At the same time, vibrations from the wrecking ball striking those buildings transmitted though the inter-connected building walls down the block and loosened the white brick facade on the Caldwell-Carr building. The white brick facade separated from the building and began to lean toward N. Jefferson Street.

The building's brick front was completely separated from its side walls. The front window and door openings were boarded up. The Caldwell-Carr Building, with its 1894 threshold still intact, was condemned by the city of Mount Pleasant in the 1980s.

Mount Pleasant Realtor Linda Stansell bought the Caldwell-Carr Building from Mr. and Mrs. Robert Baker in 1985. Ms. Stansell replaced the white brick front facade with a dark red brick one to save the Old Masonic Lodge from destruction. Ms. Stansell planned to restore the Caldwell-Carr Building, but could not fulfill her plans and the building returned to Mr. and Mrs. Baker in 1991. The building continued to sit empty and neglected. Keith and Barbara Hunt bought the Caldwell-Carr building from Robert Baker in 1994, and shortly thereafter bought the single-story building adjoining it from Charles Cobb.

The Hunts restored the Caldwell-Carr Building and the old Broadway Café building next door. They opened Jefferson's on the Square, an upscale restaurant, in the Caldwell-Carr Building. The old Broadway Café Building, was also restored and became the kitchen of Jefferson's on the Square.

The Hunts soon became involved with the Texas Historical Commission's Main Street U.S.A. program to restore and preserve small Texas town squares.

The Caldwell-Carr Building was already deteriorated from age, and many repairs were needed. The roof had leaked for some time, causing decay in the second floor's ceiling. Cheesecloth on the ceiling was decaying due to the leaks, and plaster was falling off the walls due to exposure to moisture. Windows were broken out and pigeons now called the Old Masonic Lodge their home. The upper floor was rotting due to water leaks and the lower floor was full of big holes due to leaks and neglect. The mortar between the bricks was eroding in spots. The concrete stairs at the back of the building were separating from the building.

Mt. Pleasant wasn't ready for an upscale restaurant, and despite their tasty menu, Jefferson's on the Square closed just seven months after opening due to lack of support.

Jo Campbell, a well-established Mt. Pleasant antique dealer, purchased the Caldwell-Carr building from the Hunts in 1997as a new home for Jo's Antique Store. Jo's attractive and high-quality antiques show well in the restored historic building and remind visitors of times past in Mt. Pleasant. The combination of furniture and other articles in her inventory and the historic Caldwell-Carr Building are an excellent example of modern business and historic preservation.

Over the previous 40 years, the Dr Pepper sign on the building's wall had weathered, faded, cracked and was almost gone. The Mt. Pleasant Main Street Program and the Hunts worked with the Dr Pepper Company to restore the 1950s sign. The Dr Pepper Company agreed to fully scrape the old sign and replace it with a new one. Norm Lawrence, representing the Dr Pepper Company, with a crew of three, painted a new Dr Pepper sign in 1995. The new sign contains three parts composed of the "Old Doc", the words "Dr Pepper" and a little girl with pig tails representing three decades of original Dr Pepper designs from 1910 to 1940.

Thomas Caldwell also built and owned a single-story building immediately north of and sharing a common wall with the Masonic Lodge building. This building later became the Broadway Cafe. Because of the difference in the two buildings' height, the view of the Masonic Lodge building's second story wall was unobstructed and was visible to merchants and patrons of downtown Mount Pleasant. It was the perfect spot for advertisements. Two signs were painted on the upstairs portion of the north wall during the late 1930s. The sign nearest Jefferson Avenue was a Bright & Early Morning Coffee and Tea Sign. Immediately east of this sign was a "Genuine Bull Durham Smoking Tobacco" sign, the larger of the two signs.

In 1948, Pat and Doris Scarborough of Mount Pleasant bought all of Black Grocery's merchandise and equipment and renamed their grocery the Scarborough Grocery Store. The new Scarborough Grocery Store continued operation in the same location on the ground floor of the Masonic Lodge building. The Scarborough Grocery Store was located in the Masonic Lodge building until 1963.

While the Masonic Lodge owned the building, a Coca Cola sign had been painted on its south exterior wall, the wall facing First Street. Over time the paint became worn and began flaking off. Mr. Otis McMinn, a Mason and owner of the local Dr Pepper bottling plant, persuaded the Dr Pepper Company to paint a Dr Pepper sign on the wall to replace the Coca-Cola sign. The Dr Pepper sign took up almost all of the building's seventy six foot length and displayed their logo of "Frosty Man Frosty".

Thomas Caldwell bought the lot at what is now 100 North Jefferson on October 4, 1893 for $150.00 from Mrs. Cornelia Smith, widow of R. D. Smith. The partnership of Mr. Caldwell and Mr. Carr built a brick building on this corner in 1894 as evidenced by a metal threshold embossed "Caldwell and Carr 1894" that is still located at the back of the building. The building was located on the northeast corner of the intersection of what is now North Jefferson Avenue and East First Street. When the building was constructed, North Jefferson Street was Pillsbury Street and East First Street was Rusk Street. The building faces the Confederate Statue and the Titus County Court House. When it was built, the back of the building overlooked the wagon yard where farmers parked their wagons when they came to town and which has since become a public parking lot between the railroad and the buildings that face North Jefferson Street.

The Caldwell-Carr Building's eighteen inch solid brick walls began below grade and then proceeded up two stories on three sides. After the three brick exterior walls were laid, the new building's open front was enclosed by a cast iron front that was erected separately. The cast iron front had a center door and two big windows on each side.

A second door at the north end of the building's Jefferson Avenue front opened to a stairway that went approximately two-thirds of the way to the second floor and then turned. Another exterior door was located on the building's south side facing what is now East First Street. The bottom of this door is approximately forty inches above street level and is still visible, although it is no longer used as a door.

The second story's interior contained a "railroad siding/ceiling bead" ceiling and "railroad siding/ceiling bead" wainscoting around approximately two-thirds of the walls. Since electric lighting was not yet available, four rectangular boxes forty-two inches long, eight inches wide, and three inches deep were built into both the north and south walls at a height of fifty-two inches from the floor. The four boxes on each wall were used to hold oil lamps for lighting.

Mr. Caldwell and Mr. Carr opened the Caldwell and Carr Hardware Store in the building. The south side door facing First Street was built higher off the street to allow easy loading and unloading of wagons.