{"nrhp_refnum":"88000523","name":"Celaya-Creager House","other_names":["Celaya,Jose and Serafina,House"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"441 E. Washington St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Brownsville","county":"Cameron County","state":"TX","lat":25.906459047000055,"lon":-97.50234837899995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1988-05-05","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Politics/Government","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A large two-story yellow brick residence with a detached garage at 441 East Washington Street, Brownsville, Texas, built in 1911-12 for Jose and Serafina Fernandez Celaya and designed by M. E. Tracy.","why_significant":"The house is described as one of Brownsville's grandest turn-of-the-century residences and one of three surviving classically inspired mansions by architect M. E. Tracy. It is also strongly associated with Rentfro Banton Creager, a prominent South Texas Republican political figure who lived there from the 1920s until shortly before his death in 1950.","narrative":"Built in 1911-12 on a corner lot in an older Brownsville neighborhood, this two-story yellow brick house is among the most substantial turn-of-the-century residences in the city. A three-sided wraparound veranda and a bowed, two-story portico with four Roman Ionic columns dominate its design. Architect M. E. Tracy designed it for Jose Celaya and his wife Serafina Fernandez Celaya, and also designed the neighboring house built for her parents. The Celaya family was among the city's most prominent, and Jose Celaya served as a county commissioner and railroad officer. In 1924 the house was sold to Rentfro Banton Creager, an attorney, banker and Republican leader who was the party's 1916 nominee for governor and who seconded Warren G. Harding's nomination in 1920. The Creagers lived here until shortly before his death in 1950. A detached garage from 1914-1919 stands on the property. The exterior has been restored, and the interior was planned for commercial reuse.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"M.E. Tracy","architectural_style":"Classical Revival / Colonial Revival (\"Classic Colonial\" or \"Colonial Renaissance\")","criteria":[],"status_note":"Listed as vacant and in fair condition; the exterior was recently restored and the interior was to be adapted for commercial use.","vacant_flag":true,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:21.782715-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/66/9714/40971466/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_TX/88000523.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/88000523/b760fdbf0b-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/88000523/b760fdbf0b-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"25or6to4","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Celaya_Creager_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:Celaya_Creager_House.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/40971466","wikipedia":null,"wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q110001747"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/texas/cameron-county/celaya-creager-house-88000523/"}