MONOGRAPHS OF KINNEY COUNTY’S ARCHITECTURAL HERITAGE: Kornrumpf Saloon

This bi-weekly feature examines the enduring unique architecture to be found here in Kinney County by spotlighting individual buildings and providing brief histories, complimented by period photographs. Our intent is to explore the past, inspire the present, and build the future by showcasing the remarkable associations and legacies of structures which have stood the test of time and continue to contribute so much to the exceptional heritage of Kinney County. Our next subject is the “Kornrumpf Saloon” (a.k.a. D&D Hardware), a fixture in the original town of Brackett for going on 150 years, since 1876.

This sturdy rectangular stone building occupies the southwest corner of Ann and Spring Streets. The original owner was Edward Christian Kornrumpf born in Hanover, Lower Saxony, Germany on March 13, 1846. His family immigrated to Texas in the late 1850s and settled in San Antonio. At age 29, Edward married Emma Kohlmann of Galveston, in San Antonio on December 1, 1875. The date of couple’s arrival in Brackett is unknown but it is known that they purchased lots 21 and 22 in the Maverick Addition and in a short time put up a stone building on corner lot 22. Here Ed Kornrumpf opened one of the most common businesses in the town of Brackett at the time ... a saloon. The enterprise prospered and in fact figured prominently in the court-martial of Captain Thomas Little, 9th Cavalry, in the fall of 1877 as Captain Little’s offense of conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentleman originated in the Kornrumpf Saloon. But that is yet one more fascinating story of local history for another time.

After over twenty years as a saloon keeper and just nine days before his fiftieth birthday Ed Kornrumpf passed away, on February 22, 1896. His wife Emma struggled to keep the business going until she sold out to Joseph Stadler in 1901. Emma Kornrumpf outlived her husband by 34 years until she joined him in eternal rest in 1930. 

The couple is buried together in Brackettville’s Masonic Cemetery. The property changed hands multiple times over the early decades of the century until it finally found its new purpose as a hardware store; first as Peña Hardware, followed by Davis Hardware and now as D&D Hardware. On your next visit be sure to admire the antique cabinetry and showcases still in use and the beautiful embossed tin ceiling.

Wouldn’t it be distinctive to have a historic district in the original town of Brackett? Perhaps someday. A parting wish to all readers ... “never a Christmas morning, never the old year ends, but someone thinks of someone, old days, old times, old friends!”