Fourth of July in Brownsville, Texas

Compiled by Javier R. Garcia

The following is an arrangement of photos taken on or about the Fourth of July with a connection to Brownsville.  There are a few extras thrown in for good measure.  If you really have time or interest follow the links wherever they glow and have an awesome Fourth of July!

1904 ~ was the year the railway which connected us to Robstown was finally completed and the St. Louis, Brownsville & Matamoros would eventually extend to Houston and beyond.  

 The line crossed over bridge to Matamoros and could go all the way to Mexico City.

[copied off Ebay]

1904~ According to Wikipedia this bridge was opened for testing in July of 1904 and never opened again as the water level never quite reached the height needed to safely navigate the river for trade.  

1910 ~ According to this newspaper clipping the bridge was also photographed in May of 1910.

1909 ~ For a city that used to have parades for every season or reason we seldom see many Fourth of July photographs from the past.  This digitized file was improperly cropped but it identifies as "Boston Shoe Store - 4th of July Celebration ___ - Brownsville, Texas"

1909 ~ Another parade float passing under old convent "crossover bridge"

c1910~ This photo of a woman named "Rose" decorated in the stars and stripes was likely taken for the Fourth of July. We can also date this photo between 1908 and 1913 since it came from the Gilhousen studio.  For more on the Gilhousen Photography business in Brownsville click this -->  LINK  <-- to a 2015 4th of July posting on this page.   If you have any old family portraits with that exact same stamp on it, now you're more the wiser.

1911 ~ Fourth of July parade showing more people wrapping themselves in the American flag to show their patriotism which is probably where get that cliche'd phrase from.

c1915 ~ One of the most colorful characters of our local history is Adolf Dittman who is seen here with a miniature flag collection fronting a very large American flag.  His vaudeville experience served him well and he continued his trade as a practitioner of the illusionist arts on his stage and his theater.  That table has secret compartments and is on display at the Historic Brownsville Museum on E Madison St and was once painted a brilliant gold. If you want to read more about Dittman and his theater CLICK THIS or if you rather see him do some magic CLICK*THIS 

c1920 ~ Fourth of July parade

1928 ~ Opening of the Gateway International Bridge.  Maybe it was too hot for everyone to turn out for the big celebration.

1928 ~ The Brownsville Tigers were a team sponsored by William Abraham "Snake" King.  If you ever visit a local Denny's and see this colorized photo you'll see a Historic Brownsville Museum stamp on it.  This is one of my earliest colorized photos but if you're more interested in reading a made-up history of the photo with a few facts thrown in to make it sound believable click THIS LINK.  

1929 ~ Yes this really happened and on more than one occasion and yes it got really ugly but this particular advertisement says it all.  If you can get a copy of Rattling Yours, Snake King  from a used book store you might pay less than from one in a local antique shop but there are still a few books out there.  As I recall, the author writes he opted out of the game after a few bouts which were not worth trying to get through the rough times during the depression years.

1932 ~ United States Custom House, Federal Courthouse and Post Office as it was being built on East Elizabeth St and 10th.  This photo is dated as July 4th and the building would be complete by 1933.   Today the building serves as our City Hall building.

For those who noticed the corner where the famous Three Sisters Store was for many years here's a close-up of that li'l corner taken from the above photo.  You could get a plate lunch for 25¢ next to the odorous garage of the Mobiloil service station and the lot where the Sears building was built used to be a large automobile dealership which encompassed the rest of the half-block.  The 1930 Sanborn map helps spell it out for us.

1935 ~ Known as "The World's Youngest Wild Animal Trainer," Manuel King was probably in his second year as a main performance attraction at the Million Dollar Pier in Atlantic City when he made the cover of The Billboard, a trade publication for carnys back then (not to be confused with the Top 40 music charts aficionados publication).  An interesting fact about him is that the 1933 Hurricane happened on his 10th birthday and there's a story about that and much more in "Yours With a Roar"... book written by his brother W.A. King Jr. That link will show much more facets of his story.  Manuel King left for the big carnival in the sky last April 2016.

 2012 ~ I took this photo from the roof of Market Square building.

2012 0316 The American Dream downtown Brownsville, Texas on E. Washington St between 12th and 13th

Last but not least, Happy Birthday to the Brownsville Herald which we all know was "Born on the Fourth of July 1892."  Brownsville historian  Jose Cazares wrote a brief history about the Wheelers who lived in this building and much more.  Frances January Wheeler took over after her husband Jesse Wheeler suddenly died.  Read all Mr. Cazare's homage to the newspaper celebrating 125 years off the press by pressing THIS.

  This bag is not that old - maybe from the 1960s or 1970s.  It's a photo of a money bag sent by Bronsbil Estacioner Dale Stevenson.  

1928 ~ First Steel: Building the Gateway Bridge (Part 2)

Photos and captions from Brownsville Herald archives and photos from archives in Austin, Texas compiled by Jose Cazares

July 31, 1928-The oldest institution on the Lower border, the Brownsville-Matamoros ferry, which has operated continuously for almost 100 years will make its last trip across the Rio Grande at 6 o'clock Tuesday afternoon, July 31. The old has given way to the new. Since the opening of the new bridge the business of the ferry has dwindled to the point where it no longer justified operation of the boats.

 " Build a bridge where a bridge belongs," was the slogan of the Gateway bridge company.

The bridge was erected by the Gateway Bridge Company of which R.B. Creager of Brownsville is president, cost approximately $550,000. The construction work was done by the Puget Sound Bridge and Dredging Company of Seattle, Washington. The span of the huge structure was 367 feet, the width was 40 feet, between 4,000 and 5,000 yards of concrete was used in the construction of piers, approaches, driveways, walks and railings. Over 400 tons of steel were placed during construction, which started in December 1927 and then followed a race to erect the steel before the annual spring rise of the Rio Grande, two shifts of workmen were employed constantly, throughout the daylight hours and often far into the night, the rattle of automatic riveters and the chugging of the concrete mixer could be heard, by the middle of May 1928, the huge steel structure began to take form, the concrete roadway was 21 feet in width, bordered on each side by concrete walks 8 feet in width.  All steel work was painted with aluminum metal paint, gleaming like silver in the bright Valley sunshine and forming a beautiful contrast to the gray concrete railings and walks. The American terminal was on Fourteenth street and the Mexican terminal at Santa Cruz  The formal opening of the bridge was on July 4, 1928.

May 29, 1928-Paint Bridge: Painters have been busy several days applying a coating of Aluminum paint over the priming coat of red on the new International bridge-Approximately one sixth of the structure has been covered.

January 6, 1929-BRIDGE LIGHT: The newly installed neon light sign for the Gateway Bridge was lighted for the first time last night. This sign has been placed across Elizabeth street at its intersection with Fourteenth street, and is easily visable from the other end of Elizabeth street in West Brownsville. The sign contains the words "Gateway Bridge," and below in smaller letters, "Mexico," these words are lighted in red and entirely surrounded by a blue line which ends in an arrow head pointing to the bridge.

Here's what the sign on the Mexican side looked like.

Some additional photos from Brownsville Historical Association archival resources 

1927 ~ First Steel: Building the Gateway Bridge (Part 1)

Here's a rare clump of lone-gone history very few get to see and fewer remember actually seeing. Not a history - but historical first photos of the former Gateway International Bridge.

Part one compiled by Jose Cazares & Javier Garcia

This is Gateway Bridge built in 1927-28.  We'll be looking at a series of photos of it's early construction in 1927.

 Map showing bridge site where 'tongue' of Matamoros licks Brownsville

Looking from Mexican side of Rio with a few labels to make identifying landmarks of the time easier.

"First Steel" may refer to the girders of the truss bridge they were building.  A girder is a large support beam and main horizontal support of the bridge system of bracing parts.

A pile driver is used to hammer pier to bridge construction process from Brownsville, Texas to the Matamoros, Tamaulipas side.

 

Construction from the Mexican side.

 A cofferdam is a watertight enclosure pumped dry to permit construction work below the waterline.

We will see more long-shots and close ups of the bridge's truss system being constructed.

More photos of the bridge under construction coming soon.  Sorry - we're not experts and did not take time to write a history of this.