DUANE
Duane's take
Here's the story as the official marker tells it, and I'll let those old bricks speak for themselves. Juan H. Fernandez arrived in America at the age of fourteen — the year was 1875 — not alone, but as a ward of his uncle, Jose Fernandez-Toral.
Now that uncle was a mercantile man, a store owner who'd carried his trade all the way from Pendueles, in the region of Asturias, Spain. Young Juan landed on these shores with a family trade already running in his blood. He watched, he learned, and he waited.
Then in 1883, he opened his own store — constructing it in a form that echoed his uncle's, as if to say: I remember where I came from, and I know where I'm going. The ranch hands and farm folk of Cameron County took notice. Juan's business succeeded, catering right to the heart of that ranch and farm sector that kept the borderlands turning.
Now here's where the building itself becomes part of the story. The complex he raised bears the hallmarks of classic border brick architecture — a style that was prevalent throughout Mexico in the nineteenth century. And the bricks themselves?
They weren't hauled in from somewhere grand and faraway. They were sourced from a local ranch-fired production, pulled from river clay and baked in kilns called hornillas. The land provided the very walls.
By 1921, Juan H. Fernandez had grown well beyond that first storefront. That year, he purchased the six-thousand-acre Noriega Plantation — known as Rancho Viejo.
A fourteen-year-old ward who'd crossed an ocean with nothing but an uncle's example and a willingness to work, and he ended up with six thousand acres of South Texas soil beneath his feet. Some stories, they don't need any embellishment at all.
What the marker says
Juan H. Fernandez came to America at the age of 14 in 1875 as a ward of his uncle, Jose Fernandez-Toral, a mercantile owner originally from Pendueles, Asturias, Spain. Following in his family’s footsteps, Juan Fernandez opened a store in 1883, constructing a similar structure to his uncle’s store. Juan’s business succeeded, catering to the ranch and farm sector. The complex bears significant features of the classic border brick styling of architecture that was prevalent throughout Mexico in the 19th century. The brick was sourced from a local ranch-fired production, yielded from river clay and baked in kilns called hornillas. In 1921, Fernandez purchased the 6,000-acre Noriega Plantation (Rancho Viejo). Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 2017