A native of Spain, Adrian Ortiz (1860-1957) emigrated to Brownsville before he was 18 and lived with relatives who trained him as a merchant. He built this structure in 1892 to house his mercantile operation, La Madrilena (native of Madrid), an important community business for over 60 years. The vernacular store building features corbeled brickwork, parapets with pinnacles, and paneled doors with transoms.
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