{"nrhp_refnum":"76002035","name":"Kohl, Ernst Martin, Building","other_names":["Hotel Traveler's Home"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"300 E. Main St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Denison","county":"Grayson County","state":"TX","lat":33.754964863000055,"lon":-96.53183105999994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1976-07-12","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Transportation","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A three-and-one-half-story combination store, residence and hotel at 300 East Main Street in Denison, Grayson County, Texas, in the city's railroad depot district. A one-story stone store and saloon was built in 1893, and brick upper stories were added between 1908 and 1910.","why_significant":"The building is important to Denison as a tangible link to the city's railroad heritage, having served railroad passengers, crewmen and salesmen as the \"Hotel Traveler's Home.\" It is also described as a fine local example of eclectic architecture. Its builder, Ernst Martin Kohl, was a German-born businessman tied to the railroad boom.","narrative":"Ernst Martin Kohl built this landmark at 300 East Main Street in Denison, within two blocks of the old Union Station and several railroad depots. In 1893 he opened a mercantile store and saloon in a one-story limestone building with walls over two feet thick. Between 1908 and 1910 he added brick upper stories as the family residence, and the family later opened the \"Hotel Traveler's Home\" there in 1929, serving railroad passengers, crewmen and traveling salesmen. The multi-gabled roof of pressed metal, half-timbered oriel windows and Prairie-style interior woodwork give the building an eclectic character. Fireproofing included steel lath, sand-packed floors and sheet-metal ceilings. Kohl, born in Germany in 1857, served in the German Navy and Merchant Marine before settling in Denison, where he also sold railroad-owned land. The grocery and saloon closed in 1933, and the hotel closed before 1940. Listed for its link to Denison's railroad heritage, the building was being restored as a restaurant and club.","period_of_significance":"1900- (specific dates 1893/1908)","architect_builder":"Ernst Martin Kohl","architectural_style":"Eclectic (with Edwardian-style oriel windows and Prairie-style interior detailing)","criteria":[],"status_note":"Under restoration at the time of nomination for adaptive reuse as a restaurant and private club; the carriage house was in poor condition.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:19.164308-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/79/9721/40972179/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_TX/76002035.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/76002035/e6df80bc12-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/76002035/e6df80bc12-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"Michael Barera","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Denison_July_2016_14_(E._M._Kohl_Building).jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Michael Barera</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 4.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Denison_July_2016_14_(E._M._Kohl_Building).jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/40972179","wikipedia":null,"wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q107321886"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/texas/grayson-county/kohl-ernst-martin-building-76002035/"}