Hoover House Reading Book Reduced

Shown on an 1887 map of Bastrop, the building had lived out its varied life as a mercantile,
a photography studio, and had spent its last decades with its facade hollowed out so the
city’s fire truck could be sheltered from the weather.
Tommy and Judi hired expert local mason Refurio “Cuco” Urbina to rebuild front and
back columns to shoulder tall windows and wide doorways. After cleaning the interior, the
two used materials they had salvaged from an 1860s farmhouse, found near the Muldoon
community, to return timeless character to the structure. Wide pine board flooring and
beadboard wainscoting lent authenticity to the walls and to the bar which stretched across
the room. Salvaged pressed tin panels created the dignifiied ceiling.
The Tavern was a success from its opening day. Here, once in a while, Tommy and Judi
could lay down their hammers and paintbrushes to tend the grill, wait tables, mix drinks
and make lasting friends. The place was also a wellspring that fed their aspirations with
good leads.
“Folks would tell me about dilapidated houses, log barns, or piles of old lumber and rusty
tin they needed to get rid of,” Tommy recollects. “Once, I got wind of a huge supply of
perfectly good brick that was being given away...ideal for sidewalks and landscaping, thank
you!”
“Another time I overheard two guys wondering how to dispose of several acres of loamy
bottomland dirt at a site where they were building a race track,” he recalls, immediately
telling them: “I’ll be glad to take it.”
Tommy, the deal-maker, ended up getting hundreds of dump truck loads of soil to transform
the sloping river bank they had purchased below downtown into a level, buidable site.
The cost: $8 per load. The Crossing development, offering scenic views of the Colortado
River, would now occupy this one-time ravine.