Titche–Goettinger Building facts for kids

The Titche–Goettinger Building is a famous old department store in downtown Dallas, Texas, USA. It's located on St. Paul Street between Main and Elm Streets. Today, this large building has apartments, retail shops, and a special learning center called the Universities Center at Dallas.

This building is very important! It's listed on the National Register of Historic Places, which means it's recognized for its history. It's also a special Dallas Landmark because it's part of the Harwood Street Historic District. You can find it right across from Main Street Garden Park.

Titche–Goettinger Building
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
U.S. Historic district Contributing property
Titche–Goettinger Building in 2010
Titche–Goettinger Building Location in Texas Show map of Texas Titche–Goettinger Building Location in the United States Show map of the United States
Location	1900 Elm St. / 1901 Main St., Dallas, Texas
Area	less than one acre
Built	1928 (1928)
Architect	George L. Dahl, Herbert M. Greene; Greene, LaRoche, & Dahl
Architectural style	Renaissance
Part of	Dallas Downtown Historic District (ID04000894)
NRHP reference No.	96000586
Quick facts for kids Significant dates
Added to NRHP	May 24, 1996
Designated CP	August 11, 2006

Building a Dallas Landmark

The story of the Titche–Goettinger Building began in 1902. That's when Edward Titche and Max Goettinger started their department store, Titche–Goettinger, in downtown Dallas.

Their store quickly became popular. By 1904, they needed more space and moved to the Wilson Building. But even that wasn't big enough for long!

In 1928, they started building a brand new, much larger store. This new building was designed by architect George Dahl. It opened in November 1929 and was one of the biggest department stores in the Southwest!

Inside the Store

The new building had seven floors, plus a basement and sub-basement. The outside looked grand with its Renaissance Revival style. Inside, it had cool Art Deco designs.

• The basement sold items at lower prices.
• The first floor had things like gloves, hats, and purses. It had a beautiful patterned floor and a tall, decorated ceiling.
• The second floor was for women's clothes and furs.
• Children's clothes and lingerie were on the third floor.
• The fourth floor sold home goods like rugs and furniture.
• The fifth floor had glass items and china.
• Offices were on the sixth floor.
• The seventh floor had a large auditorium that could hold 600 people. It could also be split into smaller rooms.
• The basements held equipment and a special cold room for storing up to 3,000 fur coats!

Growing Bigger

In 1955, the building got even bigger! A huge addition was built, doubling its size. This new part matched the original building's look. It also had the first full escalator service for a building of its kind in the Southwest.

The expanded store was enormous, about 500,000 square feet! It had three restaurants, a bakery, and a large public auditorium.

In the 1960s and 70s, the store was often just called "Titche's." Later, in 1979, it changed its name to Joske's.

The St. Paul Street side of the original 1929 building.

A New Life for the Building

The department store eventually closed in 1987. But the building didn't stay empty for long!

Becoming a Learning Center

In 1994, the 1955 addition of the building was renovated. It became the Dallas Education Center, now known as the Universities Center at Dallas (UCD). This center was created to help people in downtown Dallas get a college education.

Several universities use the UCD for classes, including Texas A&M University-Commerce, Texas Woman's University (TWU), University of North Texas (UNT), and University of Texas at Arlington (UTA). Even high school students from the Pegasus School use some of the classrooms. The UCD also has "Fashion on Main," which shows off items from UNT's Texas Fashion Collection.

The building was officially added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places in 1996.

Apartments and More

In 1997, the original 1929 part of the building was also renovated. It was turned into 129 cool loft-style apartments and retail spaces. To let in more light, a section of the building was cut away on floors 2-8, but the outside walls were kept.

Many of the original features were kept in the apartments, making each one unique. For example, some apartments have the old windows or decorative columns. The lobby of the building has many old photos and items from the store's past.

Later, the University of North Texas (UNT) bought the Universities Center. Because the two parts of the building share things like parking, UNT also bought the apartment building. Now, UNT offers lower rent to its full-time students living there. This brought the whole historic building under one owner again!

In 2009, the Texas Legislature approved UNT's plan for a public law school. The Universities Center will be the temporary home for this new law school until its permanent building is ready.

Cool Design Features

The 96,000-pound cartouche is a big feature of the 1955 addition.

• The large cartouche (a fancy, carved design) on the 1955 addition became a symbol for Titche–Goettinger. It's made of solid limestone and is huge, standing 28 feet tall and 26 feet wide! It shows symbols like a star for Texas, oak leaves, cactus blossoms, a scale for value, and a ship for trade. It also has nine cotton bolls, representing Texas farming, and the six flags that have flown over Texas.
• Above the main entrance doors, you can see sculptures of important Dallas leaders and business people.
• The 1929 building used to have colorful lights on its outside walls. You can still see the places where these lights were, even though they aren't used anymore.
• Around the entry doors, there are medallions (round designs) that show what was important to Texas business. At the St. Paul entrance, you'll see cotton and wheat. At the Elm Street entrance, there's timber and manufacturing. And at the Main Street entrance, you'll find cattle and oil.

Local Schools

Kids living in the apartments here would go to schools in the Dallas Independent School District. These include City Park Elementary School, Billy Earl Dade Middle School, and James Madison High School.