Historical markers
by Bob Miles
Keesey Building:
Recorded Texas Historic Landmark 1965
Founded 1873 by O.M. Keesey and Geo. Gaither in an adobe building on this site. Later
owned by W. Keesey, an army baker, who sold clothing, groceries, cradles, guns, whiskey,
coffins, tobacco, spittoons, wagon wheels and harness and did private banking. First telephone
in county operated out of store via barbed wire line to ranches. In 1906 he replaced the adobe
with this stone structure that was bought by T.T. Kelly, l964.
A
s the historical marker states,
Otis M. Keesey (but not
George Gaither, who did not
come to Fort Davis until 1889) estab-
lished a general mercantile store and
saloon on the western corner of the
part of the growing community of Fort
Davis known as Chihuahua.
Nearly anything could be found in
the store, as mentioned on the marker.
Keesey had joined his younger brother
Whittaker at Fort Davis sometime
before 1870. Whittaker had been part
of a party of civilian stone masons and
carpenters who had accompanied the
Ninth Cavalry under Col. John Wesley
Merritt to rebuild the fort in 1867, fol-
lowing the War Between the States. He
was not an Army baker, as the marker
claims, but probably served as a baker
for the civilian contingent. The Army
at the time detailed enlisted men from
each company to serve as bakers, and
Y
Y
Keesey was a civilian worker.
The section of land where the store
stood was patented by Whittaker
Keesey in 1874, and his donation of
the northwestern corner of the section
to the county (it was part of the old
Presidio County at that time) for a
courthouse insured the store would be
in the center of town.
By 1879, the store was operating as
Keesey Brothers & Co., but by 1880 it
had become just W. Keesey & Co. By
that same year, it had become the
largest mercantile establishment in the
entire Trans-Pecos area. In 1906, a
stone structure was built around the old
adobe store, complete with a coal chute
and freight elevator to the basement.
Once completed, local laborers demol-
ished the interior adobe walls and
hauled them out in wheelbarrows. The
store remained open during the
process.
Books & Beads & Rocks
O COTILLO E NTERPRISES Y
Y
In 1908, the store was incorporated
as the Union Trading Company by a
group of local men, and it remained
The Union for many years, a fixture in
the community, supplying residents, vis-
itors and local ranchers with necessities.
Today, the building continues to
serve the community in its reincarna-
tion as the Jeff Davis County Library.
The county purchased the building in
1994 and undertook an intensive reno-
vation which enabled the library to
move out of the cramped 1911 county
jail building into 6,000 square feet of
the old Union Mercantile building
in1999.
The old building now serves a vital
role as library, community center and
home of the Boys and Girls Club of
Fort Davis. Local groups may use the
building for meetings. One such group
is the Texas Mountain Trail Writers,
which meets in Fort Davis every other
month. The library provides services
for some 3,000 people a month with
some 50,000 pieces of material on
hand, including books, periodicals and
videos, according to Librarian Toi
Fisher. A number of Internet
computers are on hand for public use,
and an enclosed video room provides a
separate space for viewing videos.
A 2002 grant from the Texas
Department of Transportation allowed
the remaining portion of the building
to be used by the Fort Davis Chamber
of Commerce.
This grant provides the only
TxDOT public restrooms between Van
Horn and Fort Stockton.
The Texas Historical Commission Web
site lists some 81 historical markers in
Brewster, Jeff Davis and Presidio counties.
The Cenizo Journal will visit these sites
and flesh out the brief summaries listed on
the markers, correct the occasional error and
bring to life the people, history and natural
wonders of our area.
Maiya’s
Beads, wire, tools and fancy stones for making jewelry
Lessons by arrangement
Mineral specimens from West Texas, Old Mexico and beyond
Petrified wood bookends
Lots of books on these and other subjects Open Wed - Sat at 5pm
Y 432-837-5353
205 N. 5th, Alpine • 103 N. Highland Ave
Marfa
432.729.4410
Open afternoons 1 - 6, except Tuesdays and 1st and 3rd Sundays
Keesey building around 1908
Fine Cuisine
Full Bar
Cenizo
Third Quarter 2009
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