1892, James McCoy. 1002 E. Madison St.
This corner store is the most outstanding example of ornamental brickwork in Brownsville. Modest in size, it served as the grocery store of Adrian Ortíz, a native of Santander, Spain. Although not rising to the level of complexity of the Portscheller-designed stores in Roma ( SM12), the brickwork of the Ortíz Store creates an animated composition in standard modular brick, without recourse to custom-made shapes. The five bays at each of its two main elevations are divided by full-length pilasters that spring diagonally to create an entablature, and then continue upward to end as pinnacles that are linked, in turn, by a curved parapet. The store, eventually abandoned and roofless, was rehabilitated in 1987 in a laudable rescue effort.