Maker of state historical markers closes up
SAN ANTONIO — One of San Antonio’s oldest businesses has quietly disappeared from the local landscape.
The Southwell Co., which began operations a year after the Civil War ended and was best known for making thousands of historical markers for the state, was sold earlier this year and its San Antonio operations shut down.
The company, which also produced cast metal plaques and letters, was acquired by Corpus Christi Stamp Works Inc., headed Harry Lee Chester Jr., a cousin of the fourth generation of Southwells who owned the Southwell Co. The deal closed in May.
The Southwell Co. produced more than 16,000 state historical markers for the state over six decades, according to a 2016 article in the Texas Historical Commission’s quarterly magazine. The company also produced markers for other states.
The company was the only state contractor to ever make the markers. The Texas Historical Commission in August issued a request for proposals to find a successor.
The markers denote famous and consequential times and places in Texas’ history, from the site of the Battle of San Jacinto in 1836 to the Port Arthur home of famed blues singer Janis Joplin to the construction of the Majestic Theatre on Houston Street.
The company’s final years were marked by dissension among family members, with the feud spilling into court before a settlement was reached.
In the midst of the bad blood, William “Bill” P. Southwell Jr., the third generation to run the business, died June 27, 2017, at 91.
The Southwell Co.’s longtime operations on North Alamo Street have been shuttered. Calls to the office are rerouted to Corpus Christi Stamp Works, which makes plaques, metal face letter and traffic signs.
“It was sad for us to close it, but you reach a point where you can’t go on forever,” Scott Southwell said Friday about the decision to sell. He owned the business with his brother Wilson “Billy” Southwell III. “Without having any heirs to pass on the business to, and we’re both getting up there in age, it didn’t make any financial sense for us to keep working basically just to pay property taxes that had gotten so high.”
Scott is 53 and Billy is 65. “We loved the business. We loved what we did,” Scott Southwell added. “Our product is a very special product. We loved all our employees.”
He added that the company assisted in helping some of the 20 employees find work with similar firms.
Corpus Christi Stamp Works did not assume the historical marker business.
The Southwell Co. is a “natural fit” for the new owner, Scott Southwell said. “We’ve been helping them along the way.”
CPS Energy bought the Southwell Co. building and an adjacent building at 910 N. Alamo for just under $2.8 million in January 2018, CPS spokesman Seamus Nelson said in an email.
The buildings are next door to a CPS electrical substation, which the utility wants to expand. CPS has no particular timeline, but “because of growth in the area, the substation is being evaluated as part of our five-year planning process,” Nelson added.
In 1866, the Southwell business launched in a little shop on Commerce Street, making stencils for wool and cotton shippers. Rubber stamps and seals were later added, according to the Southwell Co.’s website.
Known as the San Antonio Rubber Stamp Co., it was acquired by George T. Southwell in 1912. His son, Wilson, took over the business in 12 years later upon George’s death.
Bill Southwell Jr., after graduating from the University of Texas at Austin, joined the family business. The company’s name was changed to the Southwell Co. in 1953, its website states.
The company opened its plant at 928 N. Alamo in the early 1960s.
In 1977, Billy Southwell became the fourth generation to work in the family business. Twelve years later, Scott joined the company.
The Texas Historical Commission in 2016 honored the Southwell Co. with its own historical marker to honor its 150th year in business.
About 2 1⁄2 years ago, the brothers were sued by their parents and sister, Deborah, 67, for fraud. The brothers were accused of persuading their parents, Bill and Phyllis Southwell, to sign documents “under duress” that turned over all of their ownership in the Southwell Co. to the brothers in 2015.
The brothers disputed the allegations, and alleged their sister exceeded her authority under a power of attorney in acting on her parent’s behalf.
Within a couple of weeks of the suit being filed, the attorneys for both sides said the dispute had been settled confidentially out of court.