Alamo on E Adams and 9th St

 by Juan Manuel Vélez Salinas

Ramiro Gonzalez and Fernando R. Balli gave me the opportunity to research The Alamo / El Alamo in order to prepare the structure for a Recorded Texas Historical Landmark designation and future tax credits to maintain the property. Let me give the short version of the research.

Manuela Alcala (1845-1924) married to Lucio Bouis (1837-1886), purchased the lot where the building is located in 1891, after the public school opened at E. 8th St. in 1889. Lucio and Carlos Bouis were operating La Anacuita (E. 11th and Adams streets) since 1892, offering groceries, crockery, books, and stationary. Being closer to the public school could improve sales, so they move the store in August 1893, once the property was completed.

SAMUEL W. BROOKS designed and built the building, raising "the level with the sidewalk to increase its healthfulness as well as add to the appearance of the street." Stephen Fox suspected this possibility, and now I have been able to confirm this assumption after a deep research.

The importance of the building is that now we know who the architect was, understanding a smaller scale in which Brooks worked. It is also interesting how the commercial and residential spaces are connected and their hierarchy. Finally, this The Alamo / El Alamo & Manuela A. Bouis Residence raises the possibility that much of the brick structures built in Brownsville between 1890 and 1903 were designed by Brooks due his position as Surveyor for the City of Brownsville. He was the first contact for anyone interested in constructing a building at the time.

Ramiro González y Fernando R. Balli me dieron la oportunidad de investigar El Álamo/El Álamo con el fin de preparar la estructura para un Monumento Histórico Registrado de Texas y futuros créditos fiscales para mantener la propiedad. Permítanme dar la versión corta de la investigación.

Manuela Alcalá (1845-1924) se casó con Lucio Bouis (1837-1886) compró el terreno donde se encuentra el edificio en 1891, luego de que se abriera la escuela pública en la calle 8 E. en 1889. Lucio y Carlos Bouis estaban operando La Anacuita (E. 11 y las calles Adams) desde 1892, ofreciendo abarrotes, vajilla, libros y artículos de papelería. Estar más cerca de la escuela pública podia mejorar las ventas, de manera que mudaron la tienda en agosto de 1893, una vez el edificio se completo.

SAMUEL W. BROOKS diseñó y construyó el edificio, elevando "el nivel de la acera para aumentar su salubridad y mejorar la apariencia de la calle". Stephen Fox sospechada esta posibilidad, y ahora he podido confirmar esta suposicion tras la investigacion.

La importancia del edificio es que ahora sabemos quién fue el arquitecto, entendiendo una escala menor en la que trabajó Brooks. También es interesante cómo se conectan los espacios comerciales y residenciales y su

Sorry no new posts for a long while....

 

Public Service Message for young people

especially for "woke" college students

Home of Joseph William (J.W.) and Nancy Martin Shidler in Brownsville Texas

 Scott Horne  

This was the home of my g. grandparents Joseph William (J.W.) and Nancy Martin Shidler in Brownsville Texas. They retired to Brownsville from western Pennsylvania in the 1930's and purchased this home that sat on 10 acres with the Resaca surrounding the property. The property was located north of downtown on what is now Shidler Drive. My g. grandmother wrote that she fell in love with this home the very first time she saw it. J.W. and Nancy lived here until the mid 1950's when the sold the property due to age and health reasons and returned to Pennsylvania to live with their daughter(my grandmother). My g. grandfather was a kindly man and believed in helping others. A family story has been told that when J.W. was returning to Brownsville from a visit to Pa. he met a gentleman who was down on his luck and wanted to start his own business. J.W. and the man went into business and purchased machinery to clean out the Resaca's around Brownsville. Eventually the man repaid my g. grandfather and had his own business. J.W. Shidler, I believe was appointed Water Commissioner for Brownsville for a period of time. I would be surprised if anyone alive today would remember J.W. and Nancy Shidler. J.W.'s brother Dr. Walter Shidler and wife Della with their daughter Sarah lived in San Benito where Walter died in 1965. On a brief trip in the early 1980's my grandmother visited Brownsville to look for the house. Sadly the house had been demolished and apartments now stand on the property. The only landmark left was a street sign that read, "Shidler Drive".

Residential Revitalization: Adams St 1st to 3rd is 2nd to None

 by Bob Davalina

The forward trend of revitalization of homes and buildings in Brownsville, Texas continues.  The focus has been mainly centered on downtown proper where the buildings have a story to tell with local or state historical markers.  Only a few blocks away, and on the other side of Palm Blvd historically known as West Brownsville, are a few small seemingly insignificant homes that are becoming more  noticeable as residents begin to beautify them.

This late '20s or early 1930s aprtment building near 1st St. is a real eye-catcher.  No time was spent to gather any information about these homes.  Some are may be finished properties and some are in progress of being completed.  Some homes I saw were radically altered from their original look while others seem true to form.  I'll allow you to critique or point out any shortcomings in comments if you like.  I just wanted to share a few photos from a very small section of town.

The main regret about seeing any old neighborhood you were raised in might be the presence of fenced yards, especially on a corner lot.  Some homes have bars on windows or steel shutters which are also the result of crime rising over time.  Other than that, these homes seem to have the original beauty that sets them apart from their neighboring homes.  

This home was renovated and is now a rental home.  The resident took an interest in what I was doing while another man approached me and asked what I was doing taking pictures of homes on his block.  I let him know I was only interested in the old houses and didn't work for city or county tax departments to relieve the apprehension he was probably experiencing.  

I find these concrete strip driveways very appealing.

Flanked by two towering trees, this small home has a lot of charm and is a reminder of the home I was raised in.  

I like the fence -- it gives it a rural country look doesn't it?  

This corner home is my favorite.  If I was an old man, and I pretty much am, I wouldn't mind spending a few late afternoons or evenings sitting on a rocking chair on that porch.  I think of it as the "American Dream" because of the white picket fence.  

Layton Grocery Store 540 Monroe St - Bulluck & Malinen Custom Leather

Brownsville has a custom leather shop and it's on E Monroe St behind the police station.  The B&M Custom Leather Shop is in an old building that stood abandoned for many years with nothing to tell of its history. I had been asked in the past if I ever came across any photos or documents related to the store but I have not so if you can help please contact us.  The building belongs to Rosendo Escareno and has been renovated by Fernando Balli to double as as a business and residence.

This lawn jockey probably had a metal ring attached to the hand and was used as a hitching post.  

1940s era advertisement

A side view of the building.  

Display of custom leather products.  

Mr Bulluck is a Marine veteran from Minnesota.

Jordan Xavier Bulluck in his workshop.  He has an Instagram page where you can see daily posts of leather products fresh from the shop.

Original store safe.

Handmade leather crafting tools

Kitchen area

Living and sleeping quarters 

Leather sewing machine

photo:  Jordan Xavier Bulluck i

I finally replaced my old wallet with a new one from B&M Custom Leather (Bulluck & Malinen Custom Leather)

What is Brownsville?

 "What is Brownsville?"

A Barbacoa breakfast on Sunday morning

or a midnight drive thru Whataburger craving,

A late afternoon sunset over the resaca

or the early morning call of the Chachalaca,

A virgin Mary sticker on the back of a car

or a Dallas Cowboy helmet sitting in a bar,

Food stamp Maria wearing sweat pants all day

or sophomore Maria working hard toward degree,

The old blackened outdoor barbecue pit

or the shaded little porch where the old folks sit,

The gnarled twisted finger like branches of Mesquite

or the places around town your family and friends meet,

The red, white and blue the stars and the stripes

or the eagle and cactus of red green and white,

A scorching summer day of one hundred degrees

or a late December cold front of shivers and freeze,

Border walls and violence, a cartel stronghold

or a quiet place to live, to work and call home,

On the border by the sea

or a tall lofty palm tree.

Title: What is Brownsville

Description: a poem- by Carlos Rodriguez

1980s to Present- Murals - or Large Scale Paintings in Brownsville (part 2)

This is a continuation of the "1950s Era Murals - or Large Scale Paintings in Brownsville (part 1)" piece we did recently.  The main focus is the downtown historic district with a cursory view of locations "discovered" while driving around.  If you are a muralist with work in Brownsville please leave a comment to let us know you would like your work added to this blog post.

Let's take another look at some of Brownsville's earliest to recent mural work beginning with La Esperanza Home for Boys - Southwest Key program founded by Brownsville native Dr. Juan Sanchez in the 1980s to house undocumented and unaccompanied children entering into the United States across our border.  It is a large mural that wraps around the building's corner on E Washington and 5th St.  When I first noticed it was being repainted in 2016 once side (facing E Washington St) had already been complete and the side facing 5th St was in progress.  The next three photos are a better view of the completed restoration work 

Portraits of the original founders.

Vietnam soldiers in war, migrant workers and what may be civil rights activism, musicianship and educational advancement and the family unit.

The side facing 5th St was almost completely faded beyond recognition.  As we'll see, the artist's restoring the work might have taken the liberty of improvising which, if they did, did and outstanding job of it.  The original wall was "cleaned and sealed with white Latex paint mixed with matte medium."  

As we can see, with part of the right side of the mural missing from this view, the artist's had their work cut-out for them spread out on the 10' x 100' wall space.

This section shows concert goers facing the stage with musicians playing music.  Perhaps this side had to endure more exposure to the late afternoon sunlight which caused it to fade so much.  Also, the original artist probably used techniques which have since improved the life expectancy of murals.  Ten basic acrylic colors were originally used and mixed for the work and was expected to last ten years or more.

Fidencio Duran Brownsville Herald archive photo by Anthony Padilla 1985 November 24 

Fidencio Duran received his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 1984 from the University of Austin, Texas.  Today he is known for his narrative mural work throughout the state of Texas with artwork in private and public collections in the United States and abroad.  As an artist in residence from the Texas Commission of the Arts in Austin, he came to Brownsville in 1985 to instruct and supervise the arrangement of thirty-five students' artwork into a mural for the youth center.  Everyone was involved either by "priming, cleaning or painting"  Students were tasked with illustrating their perceptions of the local culture in "politics, economics, love and war" for example.  About six students did most of the painting with Duran who outlined their work, filled in the sky area with an airbrush, outlined large shapes and supervised the students who painted them.

The mural facing 5th St depicts Spring Breakers on vacation at South Padre Island center pieced by the blessing of a young Chican@ couple by the Virgin de Guadalupe as a reflection of the religious and cultural identities of the period.  The student actually got the idea from a t-shirt he saw but it fit-in with the narrative.  There was once a Mexican flag painted over the door which is now absent but the American flag to the right is in place.

Left to right:  Asaac Abally, Erik Aleman and Fidencio Duran are shown touching up the mural in this 1995 December 12 Brownsville Herald archive image by Joe Hermosa.

You can visit Fidencio Duran's webpage HERE!! 

Artist and Southwest Key employee 

The three unnamed artists who restored the mural in 2016.

"Always and Forever"

Homage to the great Esteban Jordan of Elsa, Texas who may not have been part of the original mural but deserves to be immortalized in the Rio Grande Valley

Jordan had a cameo in Born in East L.A." (1987)

Mural of 1910s Brownsville collaged from Robert Runyon photos on the side of the 1934 Nolan Block building on E Elizabeth and 8th (now Palm Lounge). It was done by Brownsville Art Muralists (BAM); a group of La Esperanza students and other BISD students supervised by Luis "Wicho" Guevara with city money and donations gathered with help of the downtown heritage director at the time, Peter Goodman. I once had a digital photo of it before it was removed but hope this 1999 photo by Joe Hermosa of the Brownsville Herald will suffice.

Nolan Block building mural on E Elizabeth and 8th - Carlos Fernando Aguilar

Brownsville local artist Gabriel Mendoza mural 2018 and 2021

Full sized view of mural at 901 E Levee St Community Development Corporation of Brownsville

Disney caricatures on E Adams and 9th St corner 

Before and after look of artwork on E Adams and 9th St corner with graffiti vandalism blurred.  A few years ago a group of artists gathered to paint individual art pieces on the sides of the Capitol Theater building .  Shortly after they were defaced and although the artists returned to repair the damage their art was again ruined.  It may be that Brownsville has too many hateful people within it that, as the colloquial saying goes, "we can't have nice things."  Other cities in the Rio Grande Valley have beautiful murals on a scale far exceeding what we have seen so far.  We have to prove ourselves as a city by rising above the ratchetness that works all day and night to bring us down.

Wall art on side of building on E 13th near E Elizabeth St

Good Neighbor Settlement House 1254 E Tyler  St

Parks and Recreation Department building on E Tyler St (wall facing E 7th St) and additional inserts of children's recreational area behind it

Wall art inside Fernandez Complex building next to Market Square 

390 ft wall for Rio Grande Valley Texas legends wall at Broken Sprocket by Alejandro Gonzalez a.k.a.  @popc_ulture  There are more artists doing outstanding work in the RGV -- far too many to mention here.  Harlingen even printed tour map for all their murals.

Photo by Mario Stanley Morales who has a webpage HERE

Mario Stanley Morales painted the "Give me some space" mural at the Brownsville Convention and Visitor's Bureau. He is one of the most established muralists in the Rio Grande Valley and has demonstrated a varied degree of skillful talent in the interpretation of his clienteles' vision for their homes and businesses.  Click on link above to see a wide range of his work represented on his webpage.

Teddy Kelley photo by Javier R. Garcia

The Teddy Kelley "BTX" mural on Capitol Theater on E Levee and 11th St was the source of discord for many.  I hope that future mural projects go to the best and most experienced artists the Rio Grande Valley and Matamoros have to offer.  If it expresses the local culture great - but as long as it appeals to the many rather than the few who expressed dissatisfaction with the content, style or colors used and the commissioning of this project.  Whether you like it or not, let's look  forward to the future and hope the best is yet to come.

The next artist chosen to do a mural is Mexican artist Sophia Castellanos.  I hope she is regarded with  respect and maybe one day our murals wont have to be ten feet above the street to deter the vandalists who like to deface our art.  Unfortunately, Ms Castellanos is familiar with that type of urban fringe as the sample below indicates.

Sofia Castellanos mural on wall of Warehouse 30 in Charoenkrung soi 32.Bangkok, Thailand