Guerra and Sons Commemorative Gift Plate

In 1908 three Guerra brothers from Starr County went to San Antonio to sell some mules. With the profits of that sale, they opened a ranching and mercantile store in McAllen, Texas. This 1929 gift plate was given to loyal customers and advertised the store as suppliers of clothing, footwear, hats, and groceries.

The Guerra and Sons store was in operation until 1964. Now, over a hundred years since the store’s founding, Guerra descendants have revived the site of the store and the street it was on historically known as “Guerra Street.” Jose “Che” Guerra and his cousin Arturo opened a restaurant in the store’s original building called, “Patio on Guerra.”

Che Guerra and his family are proud to have “lived under all six flags of Texas.” In 1603, Guerra ancestors migrated from Spain to present-day Mexico. By 1748, descendants established a cattle ranch on a Spanish land grant near present-day Linn, Texas. Che’s father, Enrique Guerra, continued his family’s ranching tradition in the 1950s and was instrumental in preserving the original Spanish-blooded Texas longhorn cattle.

Guerra family descendants continue to be leaders of the McAllen community and Texas. J.E. “Eddie” Guerra has served as Sheriff of Hidalgo County since 2014, and Bobby Guerra has been the Texas Representative for District 41 since 2012.

Read more about the long legacy of the Guerra family on the Bullock Museum's Medium channel. Discover the details of the Guerra family history in this video on the Bullock Museum YouTube channel.