Collin Street Bakery

Opened two blocks north of this site in 1896, by August Weidmann, an immigrant baker from Wiesbaden, Germany, and W. T. McElwee, a local cotton buyer. Combining the talents of a baker whose pride and joy was baking a better cake with the flare of a man whose business ability had a touch of the sensational was a move that resulted in a most unusual and successful business enterprise. One of Weidmann's few assets was an unknown cake recipe. This was to become the famous original "deluxe fruitcake," today shipped to every state in the United States and to many foreign countries. McElwee, a lover of sports and the theatre, built a rooming house over the bakery in 1906, and invited visiting baseball players, circus performers and vaudeville troupes to stay there. Soon guests were having fruitcakes shipped to friends in remote places. Employees at the bakery during this era recall visits from Will Rogers, Enrico Caruso, John J. McGraw, "Gentlemen Jim" Corbett and many other celebrities. They also recall the day the great circus showman, John Ringling, and many of his famous performers stopped in an ordered Christmas cakes sent to their many friends in distant lands.

Collin Street Bakery is a historical marker in Corsicana, Navarro County, dedicated in 1967. It is one of 128 historical markers documented in Navarro County in the Texas Historical Commission Atlas, among 218 historic sites cataloged across the county.

The site sits at 32.0915, -96.4671 near Corsicana. The nearest cataloged historic site is Temple Beth-El (historical marker), about under a tenth of a mile away. Others within a short drive include Corsicana City Jail of 1908, Petroleum Industry, and Nicol, H. C., Old Welding Shop.

This record corresponds to Texas Historical Commission Atlas #5349011601. Use the map below for its exact position and turn-by-turn directions.