Twin Houses

306 / 308 King William street

306 King William is a twin of 308, a Victorian house with front gable and single front door. The gable is decorated with a king post truss and the porch is adorned with dentil molding at the frieze.

This house was built by the well-known architect Alfred Giles in 1883. It has the same outward appearance as the house next door at 308. Rafael Diaz, a Cuban exiled from his country for helping in the struggle for independence from Spain, loved here from 1883 – 1888. He had a cigar store on the northwest corner of Commerce and Alamo Streets.

Farquhar Lambert, civil engineer for Salter, Slovecki & Company, purchased the home from Giles in 1888 but after some financial difficulties (Alfred Giles and Charles Hummel successfully sued him for nonpayment), he and his wife, Adeline, sold to George Sands. The next owners, Martha and Albert Bergel, sold to Emmay Clay West, wife of Ike West. Renters during this time included: Alfred Bennett, merchant, 1888-1891; L. C. Reynolds, clerk at the post office, 1894-1895; and Albert Reynolds, clerk at Saul Wolfson’s, 1898-1905.

E. L. and Minnie Young rented from about 1918 until after Mr. Young’s death in 1938. Minnie bougth the house from the West’s son, Champ, in 1941

The King William Area, A History and Guide to the Houses, Mary V. Burkholder and Jessie N.M. Simpson; published by the King William Association, 2017