On the southwest corner of Chaparral and Peoples in downtown Corpus Christi sits a structure known since the 1930s as the Montgomery Ward building. On June 23, 1934, thousands of people attended the grand opening of Ward’s new and modern department store. The site of the new store was well known to the citizens of Corpus Christi. Since the mid-1880s, a retail building had occupied this corner of Chaparral Street.
Corpus Christi’s founder, Henry Kinney, originally sold the property to German immigrants Maximillian and Anna Dreyer in 1844. Maximillian died in 1867, and ownership passed to Annie Dreyer’s daughter when her mother passed away in 1878.
Annie was only 15 years old, but she was already an astute businesswoman. She managed to hold on to the property and obtain a clear title. In 1883, she married William Uehlinger. The two would later construct a beautiful two-story building on the property, naming it the “Uehlinger Building”. In 1889, the new building was leased to Morris Lichtenstein. Lichtenstein’s Department Store would remain in this building until 1911, when it moved into a new building on Chaparral at Schatzell. After Lichtenstein’s moved out, Annie Dreyer Uehlinger leased the building to “Guggenheim and Cohn” department store. That firm remained in the building until 1921, when a fire ravaged the upper floor of the structure, requiring extensive repairs.
In 1924, “Meehan’s Dry Goods” moved into the renovated building and remained there until the early 1930s. After Meehan’s moved out, Annie….now known as Annie Dreyer Johnson…operated a theater and an events center in her “Uehlinger Building” until 1933.
On August 29, it was announced that Annie Johnson had negotiated a deal with Montgomery Ward for a new store in Corpus Christi at the site of the Uehlinger Building. Ward’s agreed to pay $70,000 to $100,000 for “a new building”. Mrs. Johnson would retain ownership but would grant Ward’s a 30-year lease. Ward’s would also pay $210,000 for a 30-year lease on the land to be paid out monthly over the duration of the lease…