The Old Ellinger Bank and Post Office Building is Gone Forever
Another piece of Fayette County history is gone, a victim of time and decay. A few months ago, the little red brick building on the southeast corner of FM 2503 and Main Street in Ellinger, Texas, met its demise with some resistance to the demolition efforts to eliminate it, attesting to the durability of its construction.
The building may have been small, but its history is noteworthy. In 1910, the John Schumacher Bank of La Grange decided to build a branch bank in Ellinger, Texas.
A very sturdy structure made with fired bricks from Seguin, Texas became the home of the First State Bank of Ellinger. Security was of utmost importance, so a thick-walled concrete vault was built behind the enclosed cashier’s cubicle. The entrance door was on the corner with a small walk-in lobby and an office to the left of the entrance. The bank was considered quite an asset to the little community.
There were only three cashiers during the years that the bank was in operation; namely, John Chupick, Joseph Zelesky and F. C. Jecmenek. The bank somehow survived the 1929 financial crash, but the Depression took its toll. The bank was dissolved in 1932-33, probably due to a lack of capital.
The little building sat empty for about eight years when it was decided that the Ellinger Post Office would be housed in it. Before that time, the post office, that was established in Ellinger in 1877, was located in different buildings depending upon who the postmaster was at the time.
Both interior and exterior modifications were made to the building. The corner door was permanently closed, and a new exterior door with an awning was created in the center of the wall facing Ross Street, now FM 2503. Inside was a small lobby with one service window in a wall that held locked postal boxes, which were a new feature.
Previously, mail was simply addressed with a person’s name and the town and state of residence. International mail needed nothing more than the addition of U.S.A.
Zip codes were introduced much later. Somehow, someway, the mail found its way to the right recipients by whatever mode of transportation was necessary to ensure its delivery.
Daniel Arthur Juren was the only postmaster in the little post office that lasted until 1965 when he moved to a new post office location on FM 2503. He was the youngest of 13 children of Rev. Jindrich Juren, a well-known minister at the Ross Prairie Czech Brethren Church, and his first wife, Frantiska Schiller.
Dan Juren left a legacy of service to his community, having served as postmaster for 33 years when he retired in 1974; he passed away in 1992 at age 90.
Mr. Juren knew everyone in town and probably all the news as well, since he would have had the first look at any newspaper passing through his hands. He not only was a dedicated postmaster, but was also a barber and an income tax preparer. If a man wanted a haircut, Mr. Juren would move over to his one-chair barber shop in the space that had served as the bank office and take care of the request. Customers could access the barber shop through its own outside door. One stop could serve two purposes, to get one’s mail and a haircut, or maybe three during tax season!
I fondly remember as a young child going to the post office many times while enroute to my great aunt and uncle’s farm with my mother. Going inside, I was just tall enough to be eye level with the counter while asking for their mail.
I was unable to access their mailbox, so Mr. Juren kindly handed their mail to me and said to tell them “hello.” There was no interrogation about my identity, because Mr. Juren knew who I was. I felt so grown up to be trusted with what I considered to be an important task!
Long abandoned after serving the community for decades, the little iconic building was slowly swallowed up by vegetation.
However, its well-built brick walls still stood in defiance to its bondage. Then after years of being hidden, the vegetation was cleared away, and the old building seemed to have been given another chance at life. However, while driving by on a beautiful Sunday morning a few months ago, I was shocked to see that half the building had been demolished, and more was in the process of being knocked down. On my return trip through Ellinger later that day, I stopped to pay my respects and reflect on my memories of this little building that had served its residents for years as a bank and post office. It was then that I noticed what had caused its ultimate demise – the roof had rotted and fallen into the interior, leaving only the walls and the concrete vault that was now stubbornly resisting destruction. Unfortunately, nothing had been done to repair the roof before it succumbed to the ravages of time and weather after sixty years of solitude.
Nothing lasts forever, but that little building was one of the last reminders of what once was a vibrant little town that lost much of its old history. The train stopped running through town decades ago, and the depot disappeared. Several of the old historic homes were moved elsewhere; the fire in 1971 consumed half the buildings on Main Street; the old Ehlinger Store collapsed; and the Jecmenek Funeral Chapel and Lee Walla Gin closed. The businesses along Highway 71 have become the new Ellinger.
Most of the residents who were alive when Main Street was the heartbeat of the town have now passed on. Only old photographs and stories are left to provide us with memories of Ellinger as it once was.
Sources:Findagrave Kubena, Tom. Recollections of the old post office. Martinek, Ruby. Ellinger, Yesterday and Today; Hengst Printing & Supplies, La Grange; 1987
