Cotton Exchange Building, Old

Located at 305 E. Commerce Street in downtown Nacogdoches, this massive brick building began as a one-story structure in 1891 and gained a second floor and a rear extension by 1900, according to Sanborn maps. It is a two-part commercial block with two storefronts facing south. Segmental-arched windows with hoodmolds and inset corbeled brick panels in the parapet are its main decorative features. Dietrich A. W. Rulfs, a local architect and builder, reportedly designed it. The building housed the local cotton exchange, a central clearinghouse that helped farmers market cotton after the railroad increased production. It was listed for its architecture as a good local example of late 19th-century commercial design, and as one of the few non-retail commercial buildings in the city. Many similar downtown buildings have been demolished or heavily altered. Some changes, such as a modern door on the western storefront and replaced parapet bricks, detract slightly from its character, but the brick patterns were repeated.