Pick up a complete brochure of the Historic Walking Tour of downtown Alpine (plus a larger historic windshield tour) from the Alpine Visitor Center at the corner of Avenue E & 3rd Street. You can also download a printable version here (map only).
The tour begins at the Railroad Depot (Holland Avenue & 5th Street) and concludes across Avenue E from the Brewster County Courthouse.
Look for numbered markers at each location on your walk.
1. The present railroad station is the fourth depot built on this site. It was constructed after a January 1946 fire destroyed the old structure. The previous depot buildings were destroyed by fires in 1888 and 1901.
2. Ritchey Hotel is one of the oldest commercial buildings still standing in Alpine. The adobe portion was built in the 1880s as a hotel. The frame addition was made in 1908.
3. The Valadez Grocery and furniture store was built about 1898.
4. The Alpine Studio, built in 1907 by pioneer photographer John Thain as his studio, was remodeled to Mission style in 1928.
5. The Valadez house was built in 1890 by Trinidad Garcia. It served as a social center until it became the residence of Tomas Valadez in 1926.
6. One of the oldest blocks in Alpine, housing businesses and residences. The west corner building was formerly a frontier saloon.
7. Big Bend Wool & Mohair was in continuous operation for over 60 years after its construction in the 1940s.
8. This property, constructed prior to 1920, was Alpine’s second lumber yard; the original building faced 7th St. and was later turned to face Holland Ave.
9. Motor court, built around 1930. Original wood cabins were covered with stone in the mid-1940s.
10. Alpine’s first fire house was built in 1924 to house the town’s new 1923 Ford fire truck.
11. Built in 1924, this was the most modern automobile dealership in West Texas. Renovated in the 1940s.
12. In 1911 this building housed a roller rink. It was the site of the first silent picture shows in Alpine.
13. The current Holland Hotel, designed by Trost & Trost and built in 1928, was added to the original Hotel Holland & State National Bank Building on the corner of 6th & Holland. The original, built in 1912 after the fire, rapidly became the business and social center of Alpine. The 3rd story portion on 6th Street was added in 1922.
14. The Lackey-Hord building, built after the 1911 fire to house the Palace Drug Store and other retail enterprises with offices of doctors and lawyers on the 2nd floor.
15. This row of store fronts, built after the 1911 fire, housed several mercantile operations; notably it later was home to Forchheimer’s Dry Goods and Morrison’s Variety Store.
16. The corner building, built by Mitchell Werth in 1907, has been used for various retail enterprises. The western portion was built in 1905 as the First National Bank. Burned out in 1907 except for its store front, it was immediately rebuilt. In 1935 it became City Hall and served as such until the early 1960s.
17. Built by State Senator Benjamin F. Berkeley in 1929 as a restaurant in the Mission style, it later served as a pool hall and bowling alley.
18. The Berkeley Building, built in 1921, housed traveling shows and vaudeville acts in early years.
19. Three adjoining storefronts to the east were built soon after the theater.
20. Built in 1929, the two stores at the end of the block housed the Cross & Cross women’s shop and the first Safeway in Alpine.
21. Alpine Lumber started in this location in 1904. This facility was built in 1928 & remodeled in the 1960s.
22. Granada Theater, built in 1928, became the major entertainment center of the Big Bend area.
23. The Gage-Van Sickle House was built in 1889.
24. Senator Benjamin F. Berkeley home was built in 1910. The wrought iron fence was originally around the courthouse in 1889.
25. The Methodist Church, an example of Mission Revival style architecture, was built in 1925.
26. The Nolte-Rooney Home, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, was built in 1890 by F. H. Nolte, an early settler in Murphyville (Alpine), of 2 ft. thick adobe bricks made on the site.
27. The Burgess Home was built approximately 1890.
28. The Sunshine House, Alpine’s second public school, was built in 1891. Purchased by the city in 1918, and used at various times as a hospital, Border Patrol station, a girls’ dormitory for Sul Ross, and a Senior Center.
29. The First Baptist Church, built in 1895, was replaced in 1916 by the present church structure.
30. The Burke House, an early adobe residence, was built in 1890 by Dan Carr and later occupied by Burkes for over 50 years.
31. The Masonic Lodge building, built in 1912, housed retail businesses on the ground floor; the second floor was the lodge hall.
32. These three stores were built in 1928, one of which originally housed Hudson’s Bakery.
33. A dry goods store built by Forest Robinson in 1927. Western Union occupied the center storefront. The southern addition was built in 1929.
34. Alpine’s Post Office until September 2000, built in 1939, is typical of WPA architecture. The inside retains most of its original features, including a mural by Moya del Pino.
35. This building was built as M System Grocery in 1948 by Dom Adams.
36. The row of stores known as the Turner Building were built by Otis Turner in 1927 and housed some of the finest apparel stores in Alpine.
37. These two storefronts were constructed around 1927 by Clarence Hord. The left one housed Hord & Williams Grocers and the right one was occupied by The Model Shop run by Frank McCollum with The Model Cleaners in the back run by Jesse Allen.
38. Built by Fuller in 1928, the building originally housed the post office from 1932-1938. City Drug and Highland Drug have both occupied the left side of the building. Dr. Malone Hill purchased the building in 1947. His clinic/hospital was located upstairs.
39. These buildings have stood longer than any other in the downtown area and are among the oldest in Alpine. Construction began on the county courthouse and jail in 1887 when Brewster County broke away from Presidio County.
40. The Christian Church, completed in 1906, had a stone veneer applied in 1940, and an educational annex constructed in 1946.
41. The home of Dean Manufacturing in 1909, this building was purchased by Charles Livingston in 1928 and remodeled into a funeral parlor.
42. The American Legion Building began in 1928 as Allen’s Planery, a planing mill, and was purchased by the Legion in 1935.
43. Built as the home of Otis Morgan in 1929, this building housed the Alpine Public Library from 1950 to 2011. In 1970, the Library expanded to include the Darcy Home (to the south), built in the 1920’s.
44. These two houses, built in the late teens, were purchased in 1945 by Dr. Joel Wright and used as his office and hospital.