Milam County Historical Commission
Milam County, Texas
Milam County, Texas
Perry building back ‘on the air’
Former radio shop on Main Street reborn
By MIKE BROWN
Reporter Editor
When radio was high-tech Rockdale had a legendary radio shop, at 227 North Main.
The radios are gone but the address again boasts a business, the culmination of anther
dedicated effort by a Rockdale husband-and-wife team who are doing their best to
preserve the town’s history, one building at a time.
Bernie and Kim Finley have restored the old P. H. Perry Building, which is now open as
Finley Artworks.
There’s also an office for James Perry, son of the late Preston Perry, who operated
Perry’s Radio Shop there for about 40 years, beginning in the 1930s.
NO STRANGERS — The Finleys are no strangers to restoring historic Rockdale structures.
They did the same thing with their home, the former Glenn and Gwen Hodges house on
Green Street, and sparked a reanaissance of interest in the historic east side
(original town) of Rockdale.
James Perry is a neighbor and still owns the building in which his father operated the
radio shop. Perry decided to let the Finleys have a try at restoration.
“It was about half moving stuff out and half doing the actual restoration,” Bernie
laughed. “It was pretty interesting.”
RADIO TUBES — No surprise, the old building turned out to contain a huge amount of
radio equipment, especially radio tubes.
“ There was a large very heavy piece of furniture, many glass-fronted drawers,” Kim
said. “We really don’t know what it was supposed to be used for but it was chock full
of radio stuff.”
“We even found tubes that were made by Cunningham,” Bernie said. “Cunningham pre-dated
RCA, had a business relationship with them and eventually was absorbed by RCA.”
A collector from Lockhart bought the tubes. Lots of them.
The cleanup left one item in place, the building’s massive floor safe.
“It’s so heavy it has cracked the concrete floor,” Bernie said. “This building is
supposed to date to about 1890 and we tried to imagine someone bringing that thing in,
using horses and just their own muscles.”
CLEANUP — Virtually everything had to be scrubbed down. The walls were covered with
black tar and the floor with decades of grime.
“We’d scrub the floor, then scrub it again,” Kim said.
Finally the concrete floor was clean enough for a paint job, but not just any paint
job.
Kim, who is an artist and drew the Rockdale history mural on the east side of Bit Of
History, painted in designs.
Bernie shored up the ceiling, replacing rafter after rafter.
“It was hanging down in many places,” he said.
How did he get it back up?
“Twelve hundred nails,” Bernie replied.
The old building’s settling is unique. At its east and west walls the building’s roof
sags slightly in different directions!
BRICKS — The building’s south wall was a challenge that turned into a work of art.
Stucco and bricks had fallen over the years. So the Finleys cleared away what had
fallen, or was about to fall, then stabilized and re-painted the rest, creating a
stunning effect.
They even re-hoisted a front supporting beam.
There are two stained glass windows in the back, which the Finleys believe originally
came from a Rockdale church.
Why did they do it?
“I guess we wanted to prove a point,” Bernie said. “ You actually can restore these old
buildings without spending a ton of money on them.”
“But you’ve got to work,” he said. “That’s the key.”
All credit for this article goes to
Mike Brown and The Rockdale Reporter
Mike Brown and The Rockdale Reporter
The mystery piece of furniture was full of radio parts including scores of tubes and wires
The Finleys found the original sign. Business dates to 1930s.
Bernie and Kim Finley have restored the P. H. Perry Building to its pre-World War II era glory, retaining many original store fixtures
.
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Photos by Mike Brown/Reporter