Sweetwater Commercial Historic District

Downtown Sweetwater, Texas, preserves a compact commercial core that grew up around the Texas and Pacific Railroad, which founded the town in 1881. The district covers about 37 acres and contains 91 buildings, 48 of which contribute to its historic character. Most are one or two stories with similar cornice lines and setbacks, built of brick, stone, cast stone and concrete. Its buildings show the town's growth between 1900 and 1930, when railroads, ranching, farming and later oil and gas fueled expansion. Styles include Neo-Classical Revival banks and a post office, Spanish Colonial Revival civic buildings from 1926 designed by the Austin firm Page and Page, and Moderne remodelings from the 1930s and 1940s. Surviving hotels, a railroad depot and early commercial blocks record the trade and transportation economy. Later decline, facade alterations and demolitions have reduced the early fabric, but many original storefronts remain beneath later coverings.