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AUSTIN (KXAN) — A nearly 100-year-old Austin institution is officially a historic landmark, following approval by Austin City Council late last week.
Green & White Grocery, located at 1201 E. Seventh St. in east Austin, received the historic designation Thursday, months after Austin’s Historic Landmark Commission first initiated the historic zoning process in November.
Norberto T. Lopez founded the grocery store in the mid-1930s as a neighborhood grocer and meat market, per the business. After Lopez’ son-in-law, John Cazares Sr. took over, Cazares expanded goods to include tamales, herbs, oils and candles.
His son, “Little” John Cazares, took lead of the store in 1993. In January 1996, Green & White Grocery reopened as “La Botanica” Green & White and featured a more extensive collection of oils, herbs, candles, statues and incense.
City officials recommended Green & White’s historic landmark designation on the grounds of its architecture, historical associations and community value, per documents. Officials described its status as a neighborhood grocery store as “a rapidly disappearing property type in Austin.”
The property site is also historical given its affiliation with east Austin’s transportation history, specifically in the move from streetcars to automobiles and buses. Amid active segregation practices rampant at the time of its founding, city documents note it also symbolizes “the segregation-era necessity of residents of colors to open their own businesses.”
Staff also noted Green & White as a “Mexican American community asset and cultural touchstone” when addressing its community value.
It performed a good deal of heavy lifting as a Mexican American community asset and
cultural touchstone: as one of the few places that would extend credit to customers of color, as a provider of ingredients for Mexican cooking and homemade tamales, as a place to obtain spiritual and healthcare needs when the racist trappings of twentieth-century medicine denied the cultural importance of hierbas and folk remedies, and as a meeting place for East Austin residents whose busy lives could often make neighborly socializing difficult
To date, the City of Austin has more than 600 historic landmarks, eight local historic districts and 18 National Register historic districts. The city’s historic zoning process can begin by either the property owner applying for zoning or by Austin City Council determining a building that is threatened with demolition should be preserved.
Properties are eligible for a landmark designation when they are 50 years or older, maintain the property’s historic integrity and meet at least two of the five following criteria:
- Architecture
- Associations with important people, groups or events
- Archaeology
- Community value
- Landscape feature
Once a designation is approved, the property is protected from demolition. More details on the city’s preservation work are available online.