{"nrhp_refnum":"80004150","name":"de la Pena, Silverio, Drugstore and Post Office","other_names":["Old U.S. Post Office Building"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"423 E. Main St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Rio Grande City","county":"Starr County","state":"TX","lat":26.37789457200006,"lon":-98.81685974399994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1980-09-02","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story brick building with a basement at the northwest corner of Main and Lopez Streets in Rio Grande City, Starr County, Texas, built in 1886 as a drugstore and later used as a post office.","why_significant":"It is described as the best preserved and among the most sophisticated works of German mason-architect Heinrich Portscheller, who designed many buildings in the Rio Grande Valley. Its classical detailing and proportions, and its adaptation of European inward-turning building types to local conditions, make it architecturally distinguished. It also served locally as a drugstore, post office, and tax and customs office.","narrative":"Built in 1886 at Main and Lopez Streets in Rio Grande City, this two-story brick building with a basement was constructed for Silverio de la Peña's drugstore, then the only wholesale and retail drugstore between Laredo and Brownsville. Its buff brick walls meet the pavement in the manner of European street-front buildings, and the flat roof is covered with hexagonal clay tiles. Iron balconies, a classical cornice with dentils, triglyphs and metopes, and fluted Doric pilasters give it a refined appearance. German-born mason and architect Heinrich Portscheller designed it, and it is regarded as the best preserved and one of his most sophisticated works. The drugstore operated until 1914, and the building later housed a post office until 1950, along with tax and customs offices under Juan Hinojosa. Western arcades were enclosed in the twentieth century, but the building retains its overall integrity, along with a walled yard to the north.","period_of_significance":"1800-1899","architect_builder":"Heinrich Portscheller","architectural_style":null,"criteria":[],"status_note":"In good condition though altered; the first floor is leased to a church and the owners live on the second floor. A damaged south balcony has been replaced by a reproduction.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:19.258412-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/75/9733/40973375/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_TX/80004150.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/80004150/c25c3254f7-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/80004150/c25c3254f7-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"W. Eugene George, Jr.","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Silverio_de_la_Pena_Drugstore_and_Post_Office,_Rio_Grande_City,_Texas.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">W. Eugene George, Jr.</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Silverio_de_la_Pena_Drugstore_and_Post_Office,_Rio_Grande_City,_Texas.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/40973375","wikipedia":null,"wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q110001308"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/texas/starr-county/de-la-pena-silverio-drugstore-and-post-office-80004150/"}