This structure has served as a government building, and residence, and now as a museum. The rear wing of the L-shaped sandstone and plaster building is the earliest component, which may date to the late eighteenth century. In 1840, the building was the capitol for the short-lived Republic of the Rio Grande, a rebel federalist movement in northern Mexico headquartered in Laredo that sought independence from the centralist government of President Antonio López de Santa Anna. For 283 days, the republic survived until defeated by the Mexican president on the battlefield. The segment of the building fronting the plaza was constructed in 1861 as a residence for Bártolo García. In 1955, the entire property was rehabilitated as a local history museum, a seminal preservation effort on the border. The colorful, diamond-patterned decorative plaster dating to the 1920s was restored in 1994.