John Fries was born in 1818 in Bavaria and died before 1880. He came to San Antonio in 1847 and trained as an architect builder. He married Salome Enderle, a native of Germany from Castroville. He received a good education and majored in the profession of Architect and Builder. In the early 1840's he came to Ohio with parents. For several generations he was the first male in his family who did not serve as a cleric or a soldier. His father served with Napoleon in the retreat from Moscow.

While he was still young, Fries left Ohio to come to San Antonio, but he shipwrecked near Galveston. In 1849, one of his first jobs was repairing the Alamo. He did such good work that it put the structure in the best possible condition for The US Ordinance Department of the Army. The Army used it until Fort Sam Houston was built. He partnered with Kampmann to create Kampmann and Fries Building Firm, which did architectural designs. In 1954, Fries built the old Tunstall homestead and the Nat Lewis home in the same period. He also built, with the help of David Russi, the Grecian front market house.

In 1856, his greatest achievement was constructing the Second State House in Austin, which burned down in 1881. He designed and constructed the City Market House in 1858, the Menger Hotel and the James Vance Hotel in 1859 and the Nat Lewis and Tunstall homes. He died February 7, 1880 and was buried in City Cemetery # 1 in the Fries family plot.

Bibliography:
Daughters of the Republic of Texas files