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Historic Furman Plaza and its humble beginnings

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Major William W. Chapman came to Texas to fight in the Mexican War. He started in San Antonio as the quartermaster before moving south and joining General Zachary Taylor's army along the border.

Chapman also served as the quartermaster at Fort Brown, which is near Brownsville, Texas.

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Fort Brown - 1846

In 1852, Chapman was appointed quartermaster of the new army headquarters in Corpus Christi, where he stayed until the facility was closed in 1857.

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During his time here, he became prominent in civic and business affairs, including a partnership with Richard King, the founder of the King Ranch, in acquiring the first tracts of land to be incorporated into the King Ranch.

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Original KingRanch House - 1853

In 1858, Chapman bought three pieces of land at Peoples and Water Street, where the Nueces Hotel was built, and a third at Mesquite and Peoples Street.

That third piece of land, at Peoples and Mesquite, is where Chapman's son, William B. Chapman, and his daughter, Chapman Furman, built a single-story building that served as a trading post and the city's first gas station.

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The gas station had a single, one-person hand pump on the Mesquite side of the building.

13 years later, his daughter, Jessie Chapman Furman, hired an architect out of San Antonio.

Two more floors were added, and the original building was expanded

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Furman Building
Furman Building in 1949

During its life, the building served many things. A trading post, a civil defense shelter, and one of the first pharmacies in the downtown area.

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1930s cigar and candy shop inside Furman Plaza.
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Furman Plaza in May of 1936.

In 1929, a well-known Corpus Christi figure would take up residence in the building.

Furman Plaza was the site ofDoc McGregor's chiropractic practice, which he later abandoned for his love of photography.

In the 1950s, it was an Oshman's Department Store, and the Olympia Restaurant operated inside the building.

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Furman Plaza grew and expanded with the city, at one point being the center of commerce for the downtown area.

In 1984, the building was bought by 3rd Coast Investments. They worked to restore the property and add a new parking lot.

While it remained in use, the building didn't grow much after that until very recently.

Stephen Rybak of MDR Advertising signed on to turn Furman Plaza into the Foundry, a multi-use building.

The Foundry aims to keep the architectural elements of the building's exterior while turning it into a mixed-use business and retail area.

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