DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I wouldn't change a word. Now, some buildings just stand there. They hold up a roof, keep the rain out, and that's about the sum of it.
And then there are buildings that anchor a whole city's story — buildings that say, plain as day, we are going somewhere. The M. and J. Nelson Building in McAllen, Hidalgo County, is that second kind.
To understand the building, you have to understand the man behind it. Morris Randall Nelson came into this world in McPherson, Kansas, the son of a carpenter. And like a lot of sons, he picked up his father's trade before he decided to go a good bit further with it.
Morris became a builder, a property developer, an entrepreneur — a man who looked at raw land and saw what it could be. Somewhere along the way, Morris made his way to Palacios, Texas, and that's where he met Ruth Stainbrook. They married, and in 1914 — three years after McAllen had incorporated as a city — the two of them rolled into town and made it home.
They would have two children: a son named Jack R., and another son who did not survive childbirth. That quiet grief sits in the marker, and it deserves to be acknowledged. Morris Nelson went to work.
Commercial buildings, public buildings, residential buildings — he put them up all across McAllen and the Rio Grande Valley, often in partnership with a local architect named Zeb Rike. The Nelsons joined First United Methodist Church. They gave to local organizations and charities.
They were, in the fullest sense of the phrase, part of the fabric of that city. Now, here's where the story gets a little theatrical, in the best possible way. It's 1949.
World War Two is four years behind everybody. McAllen is looking toward the future with something close to hunger. And Morris Nelson commissions a design for a new building — thirty thousand square feet, three stories of reinforced concrete, built for the J.C.
Penney Company. The style is Art Moderne. Streamlined.
Horizontal bands of two-tone buff brick wrapping the exterior, with a darker cast stone trim pulling the whole thing into focus. Recessed entry doors. Aluminum stair rails inside.
A basement underneath. There were even plans drawn up for additional floors — ambition sketched right into the blueprints — though those extra floors never did materialize. Some dreams stay on paper.
The ones that got built were impressive enough. Because inside that building, McAllen got something it had never had before: the first thirteen-passenger elevator in the city. Let that land for a second.
Thirteen people, riding up together, in a building that hadn't existed a year before. And if that weren't enough, the M. and J. Nelson Building also housed one of the earliest air conditioning systems in McAllen.
In South Texas. In the Rio Grande Valley. You can imagine what that meant in the summer.
The top floor held professional offices and government offices both — including, fittingly, Jack R. Nelson Insurance, the namesake son carrying the family name into the building his father raised. Morris Nelson built an anchor.
That's the only word for it. In McAllen's postwar business district, as the city grew dynamically and kept on growing, the M. and J. Nelson Building stood at the center of it all — a streamlined, modern, thoroughly Texan declaration that this city was not finished becoming what it intended to be.
The Texas Historical Commission made it a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark in 2007. The building is still there. Still standing.
Still distinctive. A carpenter's son from Kansas left his mark on the Rio Grande Valley, and the Valley kept it.
What the marker says
This noteworthy Moderne style commercial building remains a distinctive McAllen attraction. Morris Randall Nelson built and owned the building, designed in 1949 for the use of the J.C. Penney Company. Nelson, born in McPherson, Kansas, followed his father's profession as a carpenter before becoming a builder, property developer and entrepreneur. Morris moved to Palacios, where he met and married Ruth Stainbrook; the two arrived in McAllen in 1914, three years after the city incorporated. The couple had two children: Jack R. and another son who died in childbirth. M.R. Nelson built commercial, public and residential buildings throughout McAllen and the Rio Grande Valley, often working with local architect Zeb Rike. The Nelsons, active in First United Methodist Church, were also civic leaders and supporters of local organizations and charities. The 30,000 square foot, three-story reinforced concrete M. & J. Nelson Building features a streamlined Art Moderne exterior finished in horizontal bands of two-tone buff brick with a darker cast stone trim. Recessed entry doors and interior stair rails are aluminum. The building includes a basement, but plans for additional floors did not materialize. The building included the first 13-passenger elevator in McAllen, as well as one of the earliest air conditioning systems in the city. The top story included professional and government offices, including Jack R. Nelson Insurance. The progressive building was an architectural and commercial anchor in McAllen's postwar business district and continued to serve as a downtown landmark as the city experienced dynamic growth. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 2007