The Singer Sewing Machine building was erected in 1928 during a period of time when concrete, linear, square, seemingly "soul-less" buildings had become dominant in downtown El Paso, Texas. Similar to the Kress company, however, upper Singer management required unique designs for their buildings that would draw attention - and this little building, in context to its neighbors, filled that requirement and then some. Standing next door to the stark Calishers Building, a concrete Chicago School facade, the Spanish designed Singer was quite easy on the eyes. Not better, not a superior design when compared to the normal downtown fare, but different - refreshing. One of the strengths of the Trost & Trost firm was their ability to draw designs in any style with an expertise unmatched. Even today, when one walks the El Paso downtown, this beautiful building gives pause.
The Singer Sewing building was a corporately owned structure, and no expense was spared by the Chicago based company to secure the absolutely correct location and look. Through Real Estate broker A.P. Coles, Singer bought the lot and its existing building for $65,000 on Valentines Day, 1927. The previous owners of the lot, I. Weiss, Manual Schwartz and Ervin Schwartz, had just finished an expensive remodel of the extant building for a new tenant - Mrs. Clark's Cafeteria. Mrs. Clark's had just moved from the Stevens Building, where they had operated for a decade, into their new home - and were able to do business there for a scant 18 months before Singer bought the building and sent Mrs. Clark packing.
Demolition of the newly-remodeled structure took place in September, 1927, and the new Singer building was completed and the business opened on January 30 of the following year. The building was a brick stuccoed 2-story edifice, on a concrete foundation. It featured 10-inch rubber tiles (@ $1.25 each!) on both floors, and electrical outlets on the floors that were advertised to be fireproof. Total erection cost was $105,000 - 65k for the lot, 30k for the actual building, and another 5k for furnishings and stock. The contractor was Ponsford Brothers Construction, and the building took a wink of an eye - 4 months - to build. It is 86-1/2 feet deep by 30 feet wide.
With the first floor dedicated to sales, and the second floor dedicated to education, Singer operated in the building for 55 years. In the early 1980s the Sampler House took charge of the building, and by 1986 it was the downtown Whataburger location. Today it is home to Affordable Dental, who maintains the building in excellent condition. It's a building that we always look for on our downtown tours - Trost & Trost at their best.
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Text, research and modern photography provided to Sketchclub.net by Mark Stone, citing period newspaper clippings accessed at newspapers.com
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| El Paso Public Library |
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| Photograph taken by Mark Stone 2020 |
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| Photograph taken by Mark Stone 2020 |
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| Photograph taken by Mark Stone 2020 |
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| Photograph taken by Mark Stone 2020 |
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| Photograph taken by Mark Stone 2020 |
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| Photograph taken by Mark Stone 2020 |
