Lozano Plaza

Lozano Plaza was once the site of one of Harlingen's most significant buildings. In 1906 Santos Lozano came to the city and purchased the second commercial lot on Jackson Street. On it he erected a small frame structure to house his general store. In 1915 he employed architect Baltasar Torres of Brownsville to design and construct a large two-story building. S. Lozano and Son was inscribed on its facade., In the decades to follow the building's first floor housed the family mercantile store, the town's post office, a drug store, C.E. Stone (a Texas dry goods chain), Kattan's Western Wear and other enterprises., The large hall upstairs first served as a schoolroom and venue for meetings and social gatherings. Later it was converted to office space, used as a business school, and as a budget hotel. During one of numerous refurbishments the facade came to bear the name Pioneer's Building. , In February 1981 the building was honored as a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark and a Texas Historical Commission medallion affixed to it. Upon the building's total destruction by fire in 2004, the City purchased the property and cleared it, creating Lozano Plaza. The corner of Jackson and "A" continues to serve as a key gathering place for the community., Captions , Upper Left: Interior of the first store on Jackson, S. Lozano and Son, c. 1915. L-R: Otilia Lozano (daughter), Santos Lozano, Juan Lozano [son], Porfirio Lozano [son]. , Middle Left: Celebrating state landmark designation, February 8, 1981. L-R: Margarita Lozano Cuellar [granddaughter), Otilia Lozano Harrison (daughter), Micaela Lozano Garibay [daughter], Olga Lozano (granddaughter]. , Lower Left: Corner of Jackson and "A" Street, mid-1920s. , Upper Right: Santos Lozano and wife, Micaela, c. 1915. , Lower Right: Corner of Jackson and "A" Street, mid-1950s.