Mifflin Kenedy Warehouse
In 1850, Richard King, Mifflin Kenedy, and two others formed a steamboat company to carry cargo on the Rio Grande. The company achieved almost total control of the shipping along the Rio Grande River during the 1850s until 1874 when the company was dissolved. The Mifflin Kenedy Warehouse, where the company stored cotton and other goods, is a last reminder of this era that included the Civil War.
The Mifflin Kenedy warehouse was built in 1854, near the steamboat landing on Water Street, Rio Grande City which later became an official Confederate port of entry, customhouse and major terminus of the cotton route to Mexico. The cotton bales would arrive at river ports such as Rio Grande City in wagons and oxcarts, were warehoused, and then ferried to Mexican river ports and transported to neutral ships in the Gulf of Mexico. The ships would bring back leather, clothing, blankets, guns, ammunition, and medical supplies. In 1864 the 1st U.S. Texas Cavalry reoccupied Ringgold Barracks and seized the cotton that was stored in this warehouse.
Listen
Details
Location: 207 W. Water St. Rio Grande City, Texas.
Access: The building is open during week, however the façade of the building can be viewed at any time.
Contact: Ms. Elisa Beas. City Administrator 956 487 0762.