Completed in 1911 for merchant Charles Henry Hoskins and Mary Kennon (Jones) Hoskins, this imposing late Greek Revival residence was designed by noted Texas architect Atlee B. Ayres. Contemporary identifications place the house at 906 Saint Louis Street and credit Ayres with the design, aligning the home with his early-1910s residential work across South Texas.
People and context
Charles H. Hoskins (b. July 30, 1881) came to the area in the 1890s and rose through the family dry-goods firm to become president of Hoskins Mercantile Company by 1910. Surviving ephemera and local histories document the B. B. Hoskins & Sons mercantile brand in the 1900s, situating the family among the leading downtown merchants of the period. Charles married Mary Kennon Jones on January 12, 1910; she was the daughter of Dr. and Mrs. J. C. Jones. Charles died December 30, 1918, during the influenza pandemic; Mary died September 3, 1938. Both are buried in the Gonzales Masonic Cemetery.
House history
Land for the residence was acquired shortly after the couple’s marriage, and Ayres’s design was completed in 1911. Period captions and subsequent architectural notes consistently identify the property as the C. H. Hoskins House designed by Atlee B. Ayres.