El Globo Chiquito, 1054 East Monroe Street, Brownsville

Source document Quoted word for word from HABS TEX,31-BROWN,7-. Not written, edited or summarised by this site.

El Globo Chiquito (Laiseca Store) is an excellent example of a modest, late nineteenth-century wood frame store. Built ca. the store's simple but rare twin-gabled form is relieved by shuttered doors running around the street facades of this corner building and by barge boards along the gables. This was the first of several locations of El Globo stores run by the Garza brothers, two Mexican citizens who lived in Brownsville. The Laiseca family has operated a store there since PAJAT I. HISTORICAL INFORMATION A. Physical History: 1. Date of erection: The date is said to have been once painted on the exterior of the building on the Monroe Street side, which was apparently from the beginning the front facade, since the street numbers appear there today.

The major openings of tha store however, are on the side, where the shop opens up like a market to Street 2. Architect: None known. 3. Original and subsequent owners: El Globo Chiquito is located on Lot 1, Block 122 of the Original Townsite of Brownsville, Texas. The following references tracing the title can be found at the Cameron County Clerk's Office, in Brownsville. Contract to Convey, 4 January recorded in Supple- ment E, pages Edward Downey, agent for James and Elizabeth Stillman, sold lots 1, 2, 11, and 12 of Block 122 to James G. Browne for Warranty Deed, 20 August recorded in Book p. The Browne Properties sold Lot 1, Block 122 to Domingo Laiseca, father of the present owners. 4. Builder, contractor, suppliers: The Laisecas stated that James Browne built the present structure.

EL GLOBO CHIQUITO (Laiseca Score) HABS No. (Page 2) 5. Original plan and construction o the building: Originally the building had doors on the Monroe Street facade as well as along Street, where the main entrances are now, and a porch once extended around the street facades. A dwelling, now demolished, stood on the site of the present gar- age j attached to the side of the present structure. The back room of the store, with the fireplace, currently used for storage, was once used as part of that dwelling. Some of the original struc- ture of that building is intact for example, the shelves above the doors, the barge boards on the exterior, and the board-and- batten on the wall between the garage and the store are all origi- nal material. 6.

Alterations and additions: Upon occupancy in Domingo Laiseca closed in the chimney on the interior brick wall parallel to the northeast facade and closed off the southwest window of the store so that shelving could be erected along these walls. The original oil lamps were removed and electric wiring and light fixtures were installed- The roof was replaced .and. the original ceiling of mcottcc was replaced with sheet lath. Mccnta is a canvas-like material still used in Mexico for ceilings. This fabric is tacked to the joists and stretched to form a ceiling. It is often coated with lime and then painted. Domingo Laiseca also built a house southwest of the store, at 925 Street, with lumber from the J. S. and M. H- Cross Lumber Yard. No architect was used. Mr.

Laiseca hired car- penters whom he supervised. The house was begun in August of and completed in December of that year. Between the store and the house a brick patio, now covered with concrete, was also laid at that time. In the original dwelling on the property was torn down and the present garage erected. In the porch around the store was destroyed in the hurricane of that year and was not replaced. In the original shelves in the store, with the exception of the shelves above the doors, were replaced with the present shelves. The work was done by Domingo Laiseca, and his father. The origi- nal shelves along the northwest walls of the store had been set at an angle creating bins- for dry goods and hardware.

In the roof of the store was again replaced and the storage loft in the back room was constructed. Domingo Laiseca, and his father did the carpentry work for the loft. In the store's present floorboards were laid over the original 1 x 12 boards (1 inch thick, 12 inches wide.) EL GLOBO CHIQUITO (Laiseca Store) HABS No. (Page 3) In the interior doors at either end of the Street facade of the store were installed and the two doors along Monroe Street closed off because the store had been robbed. Four inches of con- crete were poured over the brick, patio which, had deteriorated. In wooden deadbolts were attached to the exterior shutters to make the store more secure. R.

Historical Events and Persons Associated with the Structure; The store had been occupied by three principal, and original, tenants before it was bought by Domingo Laiseca. The first provided the his- toric name. These tenants were two brothers, Manuel and Adolpho Garza who operated the structure as a general store which they called El Globo Chiquito (The Little Globe) . The Garzas were followed by Alberto Jose' and Manuel Besteiro, brothers, who sold dry goods from approximately to The third tenant was Fausto Guigierrez, who occupied the store from around until World War I, It is probable that all three tenants lived in the dwelling adjoining the store. The Laisecas remem- ber that Guitierrez and his family used the back room as part of their living quarters.

El Globo Chiquito was well located for business since the Rio Grande Railroad, one of the first in the Rio Grande Valley, stopped two blocks from the store at and Van Buren streets. Adolpho and Manuel Garza were Mexican nationals who maintained their residence and business in Brownsville. The name El Globo Chiquito continued to be used to describe the property in a Deed of Trust as late as when lots 1 and 2 of Block 122 were described as "across from the H. M, Field Company, known as Globo Chicito" in Book 24, page 44. About the turn of the century the Garzas moved to and Madi- son where the store Was called El Globo Nuevo, the New Globe.(See El Globo Nuevo, HABS No.

After the Garzas moved their store to the east corner of and Monroe into the building presently occupied by the Iglesia Evangelica Lutheran (Mexican Lutheran Church.) Their new store was known as El Globo Segundo or The Second Globe. In the Garza's dissolved their business and Domingo Laiseca bought out all their hardare stock which included items such as hinges, dishes, and enamelware. Domingo Laiseca was born on November 30, in Zalla, near Bilbao, Biscaya, which is the Basque Country of Spain. He married his first cousin, Juliana Fernandez, daughter of Jose Francisco Fernandez who came to Matamoros from Santander, Spain.

Domingo Laiseca died July 8, and Juliana Fernandez Laiseca died on August 5, Their four children, Dominca, Juliana, Mariano, and Domingo still survive, and run the store today. El Globo Chiquito was Domingo Laiseca's fifth place of business. In he established a business at and Jefferson streets, on what EL GLOBO CRIQUITO (Laiseca Store) HABS No. (Page 4) is now the playground of the Immaculate Conception School, In he moved to Market Square, where he stayed until From to he operated as Fernandez & Laiseca in partnership with his cousins, in a business located at the corner of and Madison streets in the building which had previously been the county jail. In he moved to a building on the east corner of and Monroe (now demolished) where he remained until when he moved to the present store.

In El Globo Chiquito the Laisecas sold general merchandise until after World War II when they began to sell hardware exclusively. After the Laisecas went into the wholesale hardware business, selling to hard- ware retail stores in Mexico. At one time the Laiseca Store carried over articles. Harnesses, saddles, wagons, wagon wheels, buggies, wood stoves, sad irons, barbed wire, ploughshares, etc., were sold. The Laisecas were one of the last dealers in the area to carry horse-drawn vehicles and implements for non-mechanized farming. (See correspon- dence with Standard Vehicle Company in C.

Source document Quoted word for word from HABS TEX,31-BROWN,7-. Not written, edited or summarised by this site.

1. Primary and unpublished sources: Affidavit filed by Juliana Fernandez de Laiseca dated June 24, filed in Miscellaneous Records, Volume 33, page 39, Cameron County Clerk's Office, Brownsville, Texas. Interviews with Dominica, Juliana, Mariano, and Domingo Laiseca, 925 East Street, Brownsville, Texas, on July 18 and 19, The four Laisecas, owners of the Laiseca Wholesale Hardware Company, who run the store today, furnished information about the physical history of the store and about the people who have owned it. Copy of a letter to Laiseca Hardware Company from the Standard Vehicle Company, 323 West High Street, (city not located) dated July 11, 2.

Secondary and published sources: Sanborn Map, May showing Lot 1, Block Sanborn Map, January showing Lot 1, Block Sanborn Map, March showing Lot 1, Block (Sanborn Maps can be found in the Hunter Collection of the City-College Library, Brownsville, Texas, and in the Library of Congress.) Prepared by: Betty Bird University of Virginia Project Historian t EL GLOBO CHIQUITO (Laiseca Store) HABS No. (Page 5) PART IX. ARCHITECTURAL INFORMATION # A* General Statement: 1. Architectural character: This is a very good example of a simple, frame commercial structure built in downtown Brownsville in the latter part of the nineteenth, century, 2. Condition of fabric: Good. B. Description of Exterior: 1.

Over-all dimensions: The rectangular, four-bay(side) one-story, twin-gabled, building is approximately forty-four feet by thirty- two feet. 2. Foundation: Brick. 3. Wall construction, finish and color: Wood siding, painted white, with corner trim. Corrugated metal on garage. " 4. Structural system, framing: Wood frame construction. 5. Chimneys: There is a brick chimney on the ridge of the rear gable, near the center of the building. There is a projecting base of four courses, and the brick extends up to a very narrow projecting band two courses below the cap. The projecting cap is plastered. 6. Openings: a. Doorways and doors and shutters: The four double openings on the southeast facade open into the sales area. There are simi- lar opening on the northeast facade.

The wooden framed openings are shuttered by double vertical wood doors with two cleats on each to receive a wooden bolt. There are two large metal hook latches on each jamb to secure the door. At each opening is a wooden sill. An opening on each end of the southeast facade has a wooden panel door with a glass panel in the top. Two similar openings on the northeast facade have been boarded up. b. Windows and shutters: Wooden windows have double-hung six-over- six light sashes with wooden surrounds. There are adjustable wooden louvre shutters on the exterior. One window on the south- west wall has vertical wood shutters on the interior and is boarded up with wood siding on the exterior. 7. Roof: a. Shape, covering: The double or twin-gable roof is covered with wood shingles painted red.

A gutter runs between the gables EL GLOBO CHIQUIXO (Laiseca Store) HABS No. (Page 6) connected to a downspout on one end. A shed roof covered with corrugated sheet metal covers the garage.. * b. Cornice, eaves: There are boxed cornices and jigsaw decorated barge boards on the gable ends, C. Decoration of Interior: 1. Floor plan: The four entrances on the southeast or main entrance side, and one (before it was closed) on the northeast end, open into a large L-shaped room. There is an opening at the west cor- ner on the northwest wall to a storage room. A window on the south- west wall has been boarded up.

There is wooden shelving around the walls at the northwest and southwest, A doorway leads to the gar- age on the north end of the northwest wall and one opening on this wall has been boarded up. The store room, on the west corner of the building, has a window on the southwest wall and a doorway to the garage on the northwest wall. A window on the northwest wall has been boarded up. There is a simple brick fireplace with a raised hearth on the northeast wall. The fireplace has brick surrounds, an arched opening, and a stepped chimney. There is a wooden loft above a part of this room. A similar fireplace that opened into the large sales area has been removed. The garage has a large opening on each end. 2.

Flooring: Flooring the main building is of wooden boards, tongue- and groove, average width. There is a concrete floor in the garage, 3. Walls, ceiling finish: Horizontal wooden boards are used to face the walls and ceilings. The northwest wall of the store room is brick, painted white. The southeast wall in the garage is board- and-batten siding. Other walls in the garage are exposed structure and corrugated sheet metal. 4. Doorways and doors: Doors are vertical wood panels, wood surrounds. 5. Mechanical equipment: a. Heating: There is no heating equipment, except the fireplace. b. Electrical: Modem fluorescent lighting fixtures are used. D. Site: 1.

General setting and orientation: The building faces southeast on the west corner of the intersection of East Street and East Monroe, just off Courthouse Square. The twin-gabled end of the store faces East Monroe Street. The long side of the store faces southeast on East Street. The courthouse is across the street to the southeast, and the Field-Pacheco Complex (HABS No. is across the street to the northeast. A concrete sidewalk extends around each side of the street facades. EL GLOBO CHIQUITO (Laiseca Store) HABS No. (Page 7) 2. Outbuildings.: There is a house on the southwest side of the build- ing connected to the store by a garden. The house, in good condi- tion, has wood siding, painted white. The hipped and gabled roof is covered with wood shingles painted white.

At the front of the house is an indented porch with, three and one-half wooden columns, painted white. Wooden windows have two over-two light sashes, wooden louvre shutters painted pink, and decorative iron bars over the windows. A small wire fence extends across the front of the property the store and extends around the property. There is a large, round, metal water storage tank, at the rear of the house that is connected to the metal gutters of the house. Prepared by: John P. White Texas Technological University Project Supervisor PART III.

PROJECT INFORMATION At the suggestion of a national preservation consultant, Ellen Beasley, this project was undertaken by the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) and the Office of Archaeology and Historic Preservation, in cooperation with the Brownsville Historical Association and the Brownsville City Planning Depart- ment. Under the direction of John Poppeliers, Chief of HABS, the project was completed during the summer of at the Historic American Buildings Survey field office, Brownsville, Texas, by John P.

White (Associate Professor, Texas Technological University) Project Supervisor; Betty Bird (University of Vir- ginia) Project Historian; and Student Assistant Architects Scott Deneroff (University of Maryland), Susan Dornbusch (University of Virginia), Matthew Lowry (University of Pennsylvania), Eduardo Luaces (University of Florida), and Alan Willig (the City College of the City University of New Tork). Special assistance and support were provided to the HABS team by Mary Simmons*, Sally Fleming, Miss Theresa Champion, and Mr. Calvin Walker of the Browns- ville Historical Association; and by Mr. Mario Moreno, Mr. Richard Waldman, Graciela Salinas, and Mr. tarry Brown of the Brownsville City Planning Department.

Archival photographs of the project were made in February by Bill Engdahl, of Hedrich-Blessing, Chicago, Illinois. Editing and final preparation of the documentation was carried out in the HABS Washington office by Lucy Pope Wheeler of the HABS professional staff.