{"nrhp_refnum":"84001849","name":"Wunsche Bros. Saloon and Hotel","other_names":["Spring Cafe","Wunsche Bros. Cafe &amp","Saloon"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"103 Midway St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Spring","county":"Harris County","state":"TX","lat":30.07918690100007,"lon":-95.41764493099998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1984-02-16","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Commerce","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story, weatherboarded wooden saloon and hotel at 103 Midway Street in Spring, Harris County, Texas, built in 1902 by members of the Wunsche family near the railroad tracks.","why_significant":"The nomination argues it is one of the oldest surviving commercial structures in Spring and remains on its original site. It was built by a pioneering local family to lodge and serve railroad workers, and it is the last building closely tied to the town's railroading past. Its simple vernacular form reflects commercial architecture once common in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.","narrative":"Built in 1902 at 103 Midway Street in Spring, Texas, this two-story wooden saloon and hotel was raised by members of the Wunsche family, German immigrants who settled the area in the 1840s. Spring had become a major railroad switchyard, and the building housed and fed railroad employees. Local accounts say it went up in two months using heart pine from a nearby mill. The frame structure sits on brick piers and has clapboard siding, a gabled roof, a two-story gallery and a false front used for signage. Upstairs, boarding rooms flank a central hallway. After the roundhouse left in 1923, the railroad town declined. The building was leased to various operators, closed during Prohibition, and later operated as the Spring Cafe, known for hamburgers. The family sold it in 1982 after 121 years of ownership, and a careful rehabilitation followed. It is one of the oldest commercial buildings in Spring and the main remaining link to the town's railroad era.","period_of_significance":"1900-","architect_builder":"Wm. Wunsche, Sr., Ralph Hanks, Voress, Bonin, Jim Burris","architectural_style":"Vernacular commercial building","criteria":[],"status_note":"Rehabilitated and in use as a restaurant and bar; condition listed as excellent, with a noncontributing rear addition for kitchen and toilets.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:19.039765-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/66/9723/40972366/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_TX/84001849.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/84001849/8c1dd0efee-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/84001849/8c1dd0efee-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"AggiePV","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wunche_Bros._Saloon.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">AggiePV</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wunche_Bros._Saloon.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/40972366","wikipedia":null,"wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q107317884"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/texas/harris-county/wunsche-bros-saloon-and-hotel-84001849/"}