Hochwald House

211 W. Grand Ave., Marshall

Current Owner 2013: Nery A. & Alicia Velasquez

Sanborn Maps:

National Register

The Hochwald House was listed on the National Register in 1983.

TX Historical Marker

The Hochwald House became a TX Historical Landmark in 1978.

Architectural Survey

• Description: The 1895 Hochwald home is a two story Neoclassical structure with many Mission and Stick architectural elements. The Mission style can be seen in the stucco structure and red tile roof. Stick elements can be seen in the painted decorative trusses on the gables. The front façade contains a double semicircle porch that wraps around the right side of the house with a single primary door entrance that has a transom and headlights. Four fluted Ionic columns grace the right corner of the house supporting the porch as it circles around, while three one-story, smaller columns support the bottom portion of the porch. The home contains an automobile turntable which is acknowledged to be the only one of its type in Texas according to Max Lale.

• Significance: The Hochwald home is a symbol of the once thriving Jewish community within Harrison County and portrays a unique blending of architectural styles.

Historical Background

Completed in 1895, the Hochwald home belonged to Isaac Hochwald, a Jewish businessman who was influential in establishing the first synagogue in Harrison County, Moses Montefiore Synagogue. Isaac was a twelve year old orphan in New Orleans, and was adopted by Lionel Kahn, a French Jew from Lorraine who arrived in Harrison County around 1870. Lionel and his brother E. Kahn opened up the Great Railway Supply Store which not only carried plantation supplies and clothing but also advanced credit to farmers at the beginning of the planting seasons. ('Marshall News Messenger," July 1911, Harrison County Archives, Hochwald File.) While working in the store, Isaac attended Marshall University which was a male academy before public schools were established in Marshall. According to Max Lale, Lionel Kahn sent Isaac to Cincinnati to complete a business college degree, but there is no information available as to what college he attended. Isaac married Amelia Raphel in 1891 and in 1895 they moved into their new home. (Louisiana, Marriages, 1718-1925 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2004.) Neither of the Kahn brothers married, so when Lionel died in 1896 Isaac inherited his share of the business. After E. Kahn died in 1909, Isaac then became the sole heir of the Kahn's business and immense fortune.

Along with organizing the synagogue with E. Kahn and Dan Doppelmayer, Isaac donated a large sum of inheritance money towards the construction of the building, which was completed in 1900. (Audrey Daniels Kariel, "The Jewish Story and MEmories of Marshall, Texas," Western States Jewish Historical Journal, Vol. 14, No. 3, April, 1982, P. 201.)

After Isaac passed away in 1956, the home was left to his daughter, Roberta Hochwald, but was left unoccupied until Roberta sold it Francis and Clara Franks in 1960. (Harrison County Deed Records, Vol. 538, Pg. 476.) The Franks made small changes to the structure to house their doll museum. The extensive alterations had been completed in earlier years by Hochwald himself as well as enlarging the entire home in 1912. These changes can be read about more thoroughly within the National Register and Texas Historical files.

In 1978, the Franks sold their antique inventory and attempted to sell the house, but it remained vacant with no buyers until Clara Franks sold the home to her son, John Michael Franks in 2001. (Harrison County Deed Records, Vol. 2344, Pg. 302, filed December 12, 2001) The home continued to remain uninhabited until it was sold to the current owners, Nery A. and Alicia Velasquez in 2006. (Harrison County Deed Records, Vol. 3291, Pg. 147, filed February 21, 2006). The Hochwald home has been kept in decent condition and remains as a symbol of the once thriving Jewish Community within Harrison County.