Emporium History
Part of Wharton County was included in Stephen F. Austin's first land grant from Spain in 1821, where he brought his first 300 colonists. In 1846, Wharton County was formed from Matagorda, Colorado and Jackson counties, and the town of Wharton was created and named the county seat. The name "Wharton" was in honor of two brothers, John Austin Wharton and William Harris Wharton. John Austin was a veteran of San Jacinto and served as Secretary of War for the Republic of Texas in 1836. William Harris was the Republic's first minister to the United States in 1836.
Glen Flora was founded in 1900 by a group of
Pennsylvania Dutch Investors headed by C. H. Waterhouse
for the purpose of growing sugar cane. 
Glen Flora was originally a company town
with the platt being laid out by Mr. Waterhouse and his
partners. The site was desirable for its fertile soil,
proximity to a navigable river, and the newly laid
railroad lines. Running from Bay City to Eagle Lake, the
Cane Belt Railroad was completed in 1896, and many towns
sprung up along its corridor. After sugar cane ceased to
be profitable, this productive land was used for cotton
and vegetable crops. The remains of the old sugar mill
foundation can still be seen on the banks of the Colorado
River at the bridge in Glen Flora.
Not much remains of the original town of Glen Flora.
There exists only three of the structures built around
1912. The Emporium is one of 
these three. A
two story red brick establishment was built by William
Hood to house his mercantile business after the existing
store was destroyed by fire. A native of England, Mr.
Hood was one of the founders of the town and he lived in
a plantation home nearby. The building boasted a
skylight, a large fireplace, an Otis freight elevator and
a full sized bank vault with concrete walls that are
three feet thick. The downstairs portion is about 7500
square feet in area and this is now the Glen Flora
Emporium Antique Mall.
Sometime in the 1920s or '30s the Dayvault brothers bought out Hood and ran the store for almost three decades. In their day, two cotton gins were in operation in Glen Flora and the Dayvault store was a busy cotton brokerage as well as general store.
Another of the original buildings is a two story brick
edifice known locally as "Scheller's." It was
also built in 1912 as a pharmacy by Dr.
Will Davidson. There is an
apartment upstairs which was occupied by members of the
Davidson family. Sometime in the 1960s, a man named Ed
Scheller opened a drinking establishment in this location
and called it Scheller's Place. Leon Hale wrote fondly of
Ed Scheller and his pet alligator in his book Turn
South At The Second Bridge. The place has been vacant
since Pud Joines, the most recent proprietor, closed it
down in 1981.
Glen Flora Emporium
Antique Mall
103 S. Bridge St.
Glen Flora, TX 77443
(979) 677-3249
emporium@glenflora.com