The Toole Building, Hemphill, Texas
historic place
The Toole Building, a historic place in Hemphill, Texas, in Sabine County, was constructed around 1907. This two-story Commercial Style building is located on the north side of the Sabine County Courthouse Square. It is named for its builder and principal occupant, James Oswell Toole, whose family operated businesses here until the 1970s. The Toole Building was the first commercial brick structure in Hemphill. Its robust construction was intended to withstand the fires that routinely destroyed parts of the downtown commercial district. The building represents the turn-of-the-century growth of this East Texas community around its central square. It also highlights the influence of the locally prominent Toole merchant family. James Oswell Toole, born in Georgia in 1858, arrived in Hemphill in 1880 to teach. He later married into a local business family and bought an interest in their mercantile operation. After the mercantile business, a grandson, J.O. 'Joe' Toole, operated the Hemphill Gas Company from this building. The Toole Building remains a significant example of Commercial Style architecture in the region.