The Building That Halted The Massive Schulenburg Fire of 1893 to Be Honored

A Texas Historical Commission Marker will be unveiled and dedicated at the Paul Breymann Pharmacy Building in downtown Schulenburg this Saturday, Nov. 2, at 1 p.m.

The building, located at 523 N. Main St., was constructed in 1883, just 10 years after Schulenburg was established. Descendants of the Breymann family will be in attendance at the dedication Saturday.

The current owner of the building, attorney Katrina Packard Elvig, along with her husband Mark Elvig, applied for the historical marker more than a year ago.

“Paul Breymann came to Schulenburg the year the railroad came through and the town was laid out – 1873,” said Mark Elvig. “He started a pharmacy business in 1873 in another building. He built this stone and brick pharmacy building 10 years later, in 1883.”

In 1893, a large fire burned much of downtown Schulenburg.

“Most of the structures were wood,” Elvig said. “The fire started where Sengelmann Hall is today. It burned 20 structures in numerous blocks. The fire was spreading east along North Main St. and this building stopped the fire from going farther east, because of the stone.”

Many of the other old buildings in downtown Schulenburg today were built after that fire, making the Breymann building one of the oldest in downtown.

“Katrina is only the fifth owner of this building,” Elvig said. “They Breymann family kept it in their family until 1959.”

Another local pharmacist, Justin Bartos, bought it from the Breymanns. Entex, the natural gas supplier for Schulenburg, owned the building many years. The Elvigs still own the drop box that generations of Schulenburg residents deposited their gas bill payments. Robert and Deborah Fowlkes bought the building in 2013. They began restoring the building and operated a deli and antiques business in it for a little over a year. Packard bought it in 2014 and completed the restoration.

“Rudy Engstrom (RWE Contracting) was the contractor, and together we preserved much of the building, including having a crew hand-remove the cement on the walls and going down to the original stone,” she said. “The large conference room table on the second floor was a large shelf that Rudy dismantled and reusing the square nails, built a 10 ft. conference room table. The floors are the original red oak. Many of the windows are original. Reusing original wood pieces, Rudy built a shelf at the check in located in the reception area.

“Schulenburg residents over the years have brought us items, including pharmaceutical bottles, the original cornerstone, pictures … but not the Eagle that flew proudly on the top of the building,” she added. “Apparently ‘the thing to do - was to steal the eagle as class pranks many years ago.”

Dorothy Schmidt Berger, a legal assistant in the office remembers going to the pharmacy on Saturdays as a child.

“Her husband, Arnold, bought their wedding rings (there) at some point,” Packard said. “It was also a jewelry and gift shop.”

Katrina thanked her husband Mark along with Schulenburg City Secretary Mason Florus and Fayette County Historical Commission Chairwoman Bobbie Nash for working with the Texas Historical Commission to get the marker approved.

“Don Blansitt, Mark Elvig and I continue to provide quality and competent legal representation and look forward to continuing our legal practices here,” she said. “We are excited to honor the Breymann Family and contribute to Schulenburg’s history.”