In later years, Fischer's drug store occupied the site of the old Maverick Homestead, across from the five-story Maverick Bank. The foundation of the drug store was reinforced with buried brass cannon used in defense of the Alamo, later rediscovered during the construction of the Gibbs Building on the site in 1908 ("Moving the Cannon"). Once the building opened in 1909, Fischer's moved into the ground floor.

The building's owner, Col. C.C. Gibbs, was a self-made man who rose from "farmer boy to millionaire," through positions he held with the Galveston, Harrisburg, & San Antonio Railroad ("The First Ten"). Gibbs' construction of the city's newest skyscraper in 1908-09 represented "the climax of [his] long years in San Antonio" ("The First Ten"). Not only did the building's frame consist of 560 tons of steel assembled in six weeks, but Gibbs left his mark with the initial "G" carved into ornamental crests on the parapet, brass door-knobs, and elevator grills ("Work on the 8-story"). On the floor of the front entrance, letters spelling out "Gibbs" alternated with the five points of the Lone Star.

The Gibbs Building suffered only minor alterations in the late twentieth century. The Gibbs underwent its first major restoration in 1998 ("Historic Building Set"). In 2010, new owners converted the Gibbs into a boutique hotel.

1.) Looking northwest at the Gibbs Building, facing the intersection of Alamo and Houston Streets. Sommers Drug Store carried on the tradition, started by Fischer's, of having a drug store on the ground floor of the Gibbs.

2.) The Gibbs was perhaps the last downtown building to have elevator operators, retaining their services even after the 1998 renovation ("Restorers Buy Gibbs").

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Courtesy of San Antonio Conservation Society Foundation