Silverio de la Peña Building

Silverio de la Peña Building. . , August Furstein was born in Germany in 1828 and emigrated to Mexico. He changed his name to Agustin de la Peña. In 1855, he married Maria Macaria Chavero and moved to Rio Grande City to start a family. They had three children: Agustin Pascual, Jose Silverio, and Emilia., His son, Jose Silverio de la Peña, commissioned Heinrich Porscheller to design and construct this building as a drug store and home in 1886 - remnants of an old hand-painted advertising sign are located on the east outside wall. A customs office was on the northeast corner. For many later years, from 1890 until 1957, it served as the Post Office., The Silverio de la Peña Building is perhaps the most significant architectural landmark in Rio Grande City. An example of the work of master brick mason, Heinrich Portscheller, this majestic building displays superbly crafted and detailed architectural embellishments. The building is a two-story rectangular plan store and home constructed of brick with a brick parapet, cornice and frieze above a nearly flat roof. It has a full width cast iron balcony on the primary façade and once had a round arched arcade on the second floor. Windows are wood double hung sash and feature brick hoodmolds with dentil courses. Brick, Doric order pilasters adorn the corners of the primary façade and flat, raked pilasters topped by corbelled brick lintels surround the doors on the front and side elevations. It is designated as a National Register of Historic Places., Caption: Silverio de la Peña Building. Texas Historical Commission. January 1, 1980