Smithville Commercial Historic District

Smithville's commercial core is a compact group of about forty brick buildings, one to three stories tall, lining Main Street and parts of Second Street. Most date from the 1890s and early 1900s and share a common form: load-bearing brick walls, extended parapets with geometric brickwork, three-bay fronts, and a central entrance flanked by large display windows. Notable examples include the three-story Masonic Temple of 1902, the Rabb & McCollum Building of 1907, the Hill Building, and the McCaskill Building of 1897. The district grew out of the railroad's arrival in 1887 and the later Katy line connection, which made Smithville a division point. Population rose from 616 in 1890 to 2,577 in 1900, and twenty-two surviving buildings were erected by 1900. Later changes, such as stucco, new storefronts and replaced awnings, mostly affect street level, so the overall historic appearance remains largely intact.