Christina Fernández DeGonzález
1915 Trolley
Here's the picture of the cable car on Washington Street in downtown Brownsville which I promised you while I was in Spain!! This is a picture of a cable car going west on 11th Street and East Washington Street in downtown Brownsville. The building to your right is what became the Hanshaw's Dime Store. On your left, you can see a building which served as a saloon/brothel in the hey days of Fort Brown.
My grandfather, Manuel Cisneros, purchased the property at 1049 E. Washington Street one of two, in the the late 1900's. He converted the building into Cisneros Drug Store, which was one of two drugstores he opened in downtown Brownsville before the Great Depression. The second drug store was located on East Elizabeth Street, almost next to the J. C. Penny's store. The Washington Street building 's second story was transformed into the Cisneros family residence for several years as was the custom in those days. My mother and her two siblings lived "upstairs" as toddlers before moving, with their family, into their beautiful, Spanish-style home at Second Street and East Washington Street.
My grandfather had a devastating fall at the drugstore in 1942, which brought on a debilitating stroke and his untimely demise at 48 years of age. Our family sold the "business" to Mr. I. (Nena) Zarate, Jr., in the early1950's. He established Zarate's Pharmacy. For as long as I can remember, the front doorway of the building sported a mosaic tile floor which spelled out "Cisneros Drugs".
This is probably the only picture which we have ever seen of the facade of the original structure. Before my mother's death in 2006, she had so much curiosity about the "look" of the original building. The building was sold in 2007 to Irene and Lui Wayne Ouobec, two now multi-millionaire Vietnam immigrants, who opened CRAFTLAND, a huge silk flower business. Unfortunately, this picture was not discovered until after mother's' death. I know that it is our building because of the wrought iron which was stored at our family home for at least 50 years or more. There is your cable car on Washington Street as promised, Benita!! Have a GREAT Labor Day week-end!!
Luna Bar
Interior Luna Bar
c1910 Brownsvile Street and Interurban Railway - E Elizabeth and 10th (Robert Runyon photo)
