The
earliest tenants of the Norwood Building included
the expected physicians, dentists and attorneys as well as
financiers, insurance companies, a barbershop, a beauty shop
and a bank - Republic Bank & Trust. The Travis County
Medical Society and Library, X-Ray laboratories and a drug
store served the medical professionals. Businesses familiar
to Austin’s current-day residents included Elgin Brick
Company, Gracy Title Company, Brown & Root, the Texas
State Highway Department, and the law firm of Dan Moody, who
after two terms as Texas’ governor (1927-31) officed
in the Norwood Building until his death in 1966. (It was believed
that Moody’s penchant for fresh air and open windows
constantly threw the air conditioning out of kilter.)
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|
Congress Ave. circa 1930
courtesy www.austinpostcard.com
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Architects
Giescke and Harris were granted a rent-free office for their
work on the building, but that promise fell with the stock
market crash and the ensuing years of the Depression. O.O.
Norwood, like many others, soon lost both his office and the
building itself, as well as his plans for an adjacent theater
and hotel. Norwood recovered his municipal bond business in
the coming years but continued to work from his home, which
overlooked the Colorado River.
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| Norwood
Bldg. circa 1930
courtesy www.austinpostcard.com
|
In
January of 1934, Capital National Bank opened as a “New
Deal” bank in the ground level of the Norwood Building.
Walter “Booster” Bremond Jr., who served as a
director and president of the bank from June of 1934 to his
death in 1953, was a grandson of early Austin Banker Eugene
Bremond, whose first loans were made from a back room of John
Bremond & Company, his father’s wholesale grocery
business, which had been established on Sixth Street in 1847.
The origins of Capital National Bank date from Bremond’s
bank, which was incorporated as State National Bank in 1882.
SNB was acquired in 1927 by Republic Bank & Trust, which
was in turn acquired by CNB in 1934. (CNB joined Texas Commerce
Bank in 1977 and has since been incorporated into J.P. Morgan
Chase.)
The bank’s first board of directors represented some
of the most prominent, well-established families of the city:
Herman Brown, president of Brown and Root; Hale M. Houston,
president of John Bremond & Company; James P. Nash, oil
businessman; Dan Moody, former governor; Dr. Zachary T. Scott,
physician; Walter Bohn, Bohn Brothers, a dry goods and department
store; Adolph (Ad) Kohn, president of Bon Ton Baking Company;
George H. McCullough, G&S Sporting Goods; Charles E. Marsh,
owner and publisher of the American Statesman and other newspapers
throughout the country; Eldred McKinnon, former president
of Republic Bank & Trust and initial president of CNB;
and George E. Shelley, attorney. John A. Gracy, a nephew of
banker George Littlefield and founder of Gracy Title Company,
joined the board later the same year.
In addition to Hale Houston, chairmen of the CNB board would
eventually include W.A. Keeling, former attorney general of
Texas and a corporation lawyer of national repute, and contractor
Herman Brown, who served as chair until his death in 1962.
Edward Clark, former Texas Secretary of State, US Ambassador
to Australia, and one of the most influential Texans of his
time, became a director in 1944, the same year CNB purchased
the Norwood Building.
Under the direction of Brown and Bremond, the Motoramp Garage
was remodeled and enclosed in 1951 by the architects Page,
Southerland & Page to accommodate banking facilities on
the ground floor, with the main lobby entry on Seventh Street.
Three drive-through windows and three walk-up windows faced
Colorado Street. Clark was to follow his good friend Brown
as chairman of the board in 1962. It is interesting to note that well-known banker Joseph "Jody" Grant, chairman and CEO of Texas Capital Bank, the bank currently located in the Norwood Tower, was president of Capital National Bank in the 1970s. CNB eventually outgrew its
facilities and moved to a new building in 1981, while under
the leadership of Clark and Martin Butler.
Purchased by Rust Properties in late 1970s, the building underwent
a five million dollar renovation in 1982-83 to bring it up
to contemporary standards while preserving its character and
original style. The building, which had come to be known as
the Capital National Bank Building, was renamed the Norwood
Tower. In December of 1997, it was purchased by the LBJ Holding
Company, a fitting return to a company with family ties that
run deep in the history of Norwood Tower and Austin.
