{"nrhp_refnum":"77001430","name":"Browne-Wagner House","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"245 E. St. Charles St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Brownsville","county":"Cameron County","state":"TX","lat":25.906682846000024,"lon":-97.50653814899994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1977-08-29","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story brick residence at 245 East St. Charles Street in Brownsville, Cameron County, Texas, built in 1894 for Josephine Glaevecke Browne and designed by architect S. W. Brooks.","why_significant":"The nomination calls it the most intact example of the larger brick residences characteristic of Brownsville in the late nineteenth century. It is noted for its fine molded brickwork, a quality peculiar to the Lower Rio Grande Valley, and its tall proportions. It also blends classical door detailing with Victorian Italianate proportions, and its owners were prominent in the region's history.","narrative":"Built in 1894 for Josephine Glaevecke Browne, this two-story brick house at 245 East St. Charles Street in Brownsville was designed by architect S. W. Brooks in the Gulf Coast tradition. Its cavity walls of two brick layers, large molded brick cornice and corbel table, and tall windows give it imposing proportions. Cast iron fireplaces were shipped from New Orleans, and inside are a solid walnut stairway, pine flooring and hand-carved panel doors. The nomination treats it as the most intact of Brownsville's larger late nineteenth-century brick residences, noting its molded brickwork and a vernacular mix of classical door surrounds with Italianate proportions. Brooks served as city engineer, designed the Fort Brown Post Hospital and early county courthouses. Later owners included Thomas J. Hooks, founder of Donna, and the family of banker R. E. Wagner, who lived there from 1920. Outbuildings include a brick wash house, a 1922 garage and a 1925 playhouse.","period_of_significance":"1894","architect_builder":"S. W. Brooks","architectural_style":"Vernacular","criteria":[],"status_note":"Listed as occupied private residence; the form says the owner continues to live in the house. The rear porch was enclosed in 1967 and the veranda posts were replaced in the late 1950s.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:19.026689-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/60/9714/40971460/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_TX/77001430.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/77001430/6ccddbef8e-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/77001430/6ccddbef8e-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"25or6to4","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Brown-Wagner_House.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">25or6to4</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Brown-Wagner_House.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/40971460","wikipedia":null,"wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q107319043"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/texas/cameron-county/browne-wagner-house-77001430/"}