Uploaded February 2026 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
Preservation in Texas doesn’t always mean putting something behind glass. Sometimes it looks like opening the doors every morning, knowing your customers by name, and keeping a town running one fix at a time.
On this episode of Texas Country Reporter, we start in Cuero, Texas, at Wagner’s Hardware & Gifts, a generational hardware store where the floors creak with history, the shelves are full of surprises, and the customer service still feels like a handshake. From practical fixes (bolts, fence repairs, plumbing help) to the stories behind the cowboy hats hanging on the walls, this place is more than a store. It’s a living archive of small-town Texas.
Then we head to Huntsville where a mother-and-daughter bakery brings new life to a historic old county jail, serving heirloom-style recipes (including a cake connected to Margaret Houston and the Sam Houston Memorial Museum).
And finally, we visit The Alamo, where artist Donald Yena helps preserve Texas history through painting and an extraordinary donation of Spanish colonial artifacts, reminding us just how large the original compound was and how deep the history runs.
00:00 Wagner's Hardware
07:53 CAT Cafe & Bakery
12:01 The Alamo Painter
Wagner's Hardware & Gifts
Cuero, Texas
wagnerscuero.com
C.A.T. Cafe & Bakery
Huntsville, Texas
catcafebakery.com
The Alamo
Donald Yena
San Antonio, Texas
thealamo.org
Facebook ► facebook.com/TexasCountryReporter
Instagram ► instagram.com/texascountryreporter
Texas Country Reporter
Preservation in Texas doesn’t always mean putting something behind glass. Sometimes it looks like opening the doors every morning, knowing your customers by name, and keeping a town running one fix at a time.
On this episode of Texas Country Reporter, we start in Cuero, Texas, at Wagner’s Hardware & Gifts, a generational hardware store where the floors creak with history, the shelves are full of surprises, and the customer service still feels like a handshake. From practical fixes (bolts, fence repairs, plumbing help) to the stories behind the cowboy hats hanging on the walls, this place is more than a store. It’s a living archive of small-town Texas.
Then we head to Huntsville where a mother-and-daughter bakery brings new life to a historic old county jail, serving heirloom-style recipes (including a cake connected to Margaret Houston and the Sam Houston Memorial Museum).
And finally, we visit The Alamo, where artist Donald Yena helps preserve Texas history through painting and an extraordinary donation of Spanish colonial artifacts, reminding us just how large the original compound was and how deep the history runs.
00:00 Wagner's Hardware
07:53 CAT Cafe & Bakery
12:01 The Alamo Painter
Wagner's Hardware & Gifts
Cuero, Texas
wagnerscuero.com
C.A.T. Cafe & Bakery
Huntsville, Texas
catcafebakery.com
The Alamo
Donald Yena
San Antonio, Texas
thealamo.org
Facebook ► facebook.com/TexasCountryReporter
Instagram ► instagram.com/texascountryreporter
Texas Country Reporter
