Once a vibrant center of commerce and culture, Brownsville’s Market Square had seen better days. Located a short walking distance from the international bridge linking downtown Brownsville to Matamoros, Mexico, Market Square was the heart of the original town site. In those days, the area bustled with the activity that characterized Brownsville’s early economic boom.
Ranchers shepherded cattle along its dusty streets as they made their way to the famed Chisholm Trail. Farmers brought crops to sell and export to other parts of the world via the steamships and rails systems that quickly emerged in the downtown’s outskirts.
Architecturally, innovative buildings framed the Market Square area as Brownsville’s fledging millionaires and business pioneers, eager to show off their wealth, brought in architects from around the country. For almost 100 years, Market Square remained the center of Brownsville’s downtown business district, even surviving a series of hurricanes around the 1930s, one of which tore the roof right off the building.
Read PDF article as Featured in Texas Town & City – August 2012