Holy Redeemer Church
Board & Batten Structure
House on Benavides
El Trece
Bungalows on Santa María Ave.
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a fascinating old Laredo barrio
Photos Courtesy of Jesús Najar
alking along the northern sections of Santa María, Juárez, and Salinas avenues, I came across a charming barrio, El Trece and Holy Redeemer. The name, El Trece, was derived from the city’s voting precinct in which the barrio was located, the 13th. Laredo’s residential areas expanded north of the Texas Mexican railroad tracks during the great immigration north by refugees of the Mexican Revolution of 1910-1920. Workers lived in board-and-batten homes in close proximity to the brick factories and the Eagle Pass and Río Grande Railroad shops and passenger depot on Santa Rita Avenue. A more defined barrio centered around Holy Redeemer Church, built and dedicated in 1909. The church recently completed an exterior restoration and today features a new copper-roofed steeple and cross. The Fourth Ward School, established circa 1920, was situated to the south of the church, the
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present site of C.M. MacDonell School. The most substantial homes were built along Juárez and Salinas Avenue. Here are still found very well preserved examples of Folk Victorian, and border vernacular architecture made of local brick. Surprisingly, this area has a good density of trees and plants, and most of the front yards are well kept. In the 1900s, a small business district sprang up along Santa María Ave., which was later augmented by the trolley line that connected downtown to Park Street. The Alfredo Santos grocery store was located at 1900 Santa María Ave.. The old store was demolished in recent years to develop a Family Dollar store. In the early 1900s Santa María Ave. was known as the Austin Highway that connected Laredo to places north. In the 1920s the highway was shifted to San Bernardo Avenue, and in the mid-1970s to present I-35. You can still see the fading glory of Santa Maria in its bungalows
Brick folkways
House on Juarez
with big porticoes, and its commercial structures. Today, buildings in El Trece are, for the most part, in good condition. Good architectural building examples are ones that remain unmodified although they may be vacant and in disrepair. Nevertheless, the context has not changed dramatically, and the neighborhood remains with low density and sparsely built since little new construction has occurred. A conservation district could help to stimulate the rehabilitation of structures contributing to El Trece’s character and strengthen revitalization efforts through the establishment of demolition review and design standards for new construction. Reference: “City of Laredo Historic Preservation Plan,” Laredo Historic/District Landmark Board, 1995. (Jesús Najar is the South Texas Field Officer for the National Trust for Historic Preservation. He can be reached at
[email protected]) ◆
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