National Register Listing

Shary, John, Building

a.k.a. Mission City Hall

900 Doherty, Mission, TX

The Shary Building was built in 1939 by citrus grower and land developer, John Shary, to house the offices of his many businesses that were instrumental in the growth of citriculture, land, and community development in the Lower Rio Grande Valley. The Shary Building is significant at the local level in the areas of agriculture and commerce. The building reflects the extent to which Shary's businesses and influence had grown by the late 1930s and it is associated with the historic context, Grapefruit's Lone Star Home: The Development Of Mission, Texas. The Shary Building is also significant in the same areas of agriculture and commerce, for its association with John Shary who was largely responsible for the implementation and success of citriculture in the Lower Rio Grande Valley. Shary is rightfully regarded as the "Father of the Texas Citrus Industry" and the building he constructed served as headquarters for his many enterprises that promoted citrus cultivation, including his irrigation company and the first packing plant in the Valley.

The Texas Citrus Fruit Growers Exchange, a growing and marketing association also headquartered in the Shary building, completed his influence and leadership in every aspect of the citrus business. Built by San Antonio architect, Harvey P. Smith, the Shary building is also significant under Criterion C, in the area of architecture, as an example of a 1930s office building with both Spanish Colonial Revival and modest Mediterranean stylistic influences.
Following a brief career as a pharmacist in his native Nebraska, John Shary arrived in the Valley to pursue land development in 1911. He set his sights on Mission and purchased the holdings of John Conway's bankrupt irrigation company in 1915. Shary expanded the canal systems to support the irrigated farms that were promoted and sold by his land development company in the newly opened Sharyland tract, east of Mission. He completed his mansion and a third lift station pump for the canal system by 1920 and spent the next decade tirelessly promoting the Mission area to prospective farmers throughout the country. John Shary's efforts in developing the citrus industry began with his first crop of mature citrus in 1923. That same year, Shary borrowed the concept of agricultural associations from existing operations in California and formed the Valley's first cooperative, the Texas Citrus Fruit Growers Exchange. The Exchange was an innovative program intended to protect the interests of citrus growers through cooperative packing, marketing, and transportation. Its rapid success led to the Valley-wide trend of cooperative agriculture processing.

During the Great Depression, John Shary again took the initiative to encourage the citrus industry by forming Brogdex Company, a grapefruit canning operation, and the Shary Products Company which processed and sold citrus by-products, such as peels and pulp that were utilized for fertilizer (Holcomb 17 Nov 1998). With Shary as president, the United Irrigation Company undertook a project to line canals with concrete in 1933 to benefit the landowners and to provide public relief jobs. Despite the economic hardships of the 1930s, John Shary's businesses continued to expand.

In December 1938, Shary accepted bids for the construction of a new office building that would become the headquarters for his businesses. Begun after nearly a decade of economic depression, the Shary building was the largest commercial building erected in Mission since 1928. Architectural plans were provided by Harvey P. Smith, a San Antonio-based architect and preservationist best known for restoring historic Spanish missions. Local builder, J. E Walsh won the bid for general contractor and began construction on January 29, 1939. F. Reynoldo from San Antonio subcontracted under Walsh to construct art stone and Alamo Iron Works provided structural steel. J. E. Walsh scheduled completion for the job in just 90 days (Mission Express 29 Jan 1939). Shary's optimism and constant promotion of Mission, even during the Depression, influenced the impressive design and landscaping for his new offices which were intended to "enhance the beauty of the approach to Mission to make a more favorable impression to visitors" (Mission Express 29 Jan 1939 p 2).

John Shary and his wife hosted a dedication and open house ceremony on June 23, 1939, 150 days after the construction start date. Construction costs totaled $40,000 for the Shary Building at 900 Doherty. The site of the new building was adjacent to the site of the old, wood-frame office that the Shary Enterprises had occupied since 1915 when he bought the holdings of Conway and Hoit's irrigation company. The Shary building provided space on the first floor for Shary's companies, among them: United Irrigation Company, Shary Products Company, Granjeno Development Company, Brogdex Company of Texas, Sharyland Orchards and Nurseries, The Shary-Maddox Company, an oil, gas and mineral concern, and Southtex Mortgage Loan Company (Open House Invitation 23 Jun 1939). Shary's private office, The Texas Citrus Fruit Grower's Exchange, the Engineer's office, and the legal department were on the second floor. Every office was planned to accommodate an intercommunicating telephone (Mission Times 02 Dec 1939).

Although Shary's diverse interests included publishing newspapers and banking, his businesses that were devoted to the citrus industry dominated his concerns and proved the most successful. The citrus industry renewed its strength in the years following the Depression and the popularity of grower's associations, a trend started by Shary's Texas Citrus Fruit Growers Exchange, meant greater profits for the growers and new markets in which to sell citrus. During World War II, the armed services used 10% of all citrus shipped from the Lower Rio Grande Valley, suggesting the region's important role in wartime food production (Mission Times 10 Mar 1944).

John Shary died shortly after the end of the war in November 1945. Though he was able to use his new office building for only a few years before his death, he lived to see the country rebound from the Great Depression and Valley agriculture and citrus resume economic importance during World War II. Consecutive freezes in 1949 and 1951 were devastating to the Valley's citrus orchards and marked the end of an exceptionally long period of mild weather that provided John Shary the fortunate opportunity to develop his lands. After John Shary's death, the Shary estate continued to occupy the office building for fifteen years. Shary's daughter Mary Alice and her husband, Texas Governor Allan Shivers, sold the building to the city of Mission to serve as City Hall in 1960. The city added a council meeting annex to the rear of the original building in 1979.

Once the headquarters for the "Father of the Citrus Industry," the Shary Building is now used to administer the city that John Shary helped develop. The building is the best surviving representation of John Shary and his enterprises in Mission. Shary's many businesses provided services for every step of development in the community and in citriculture and cemented his pervasive role in the overall success of Mission. From land sales and irrigation to marketing Valley fruit, Shary had his hand in almost every aspect of transforming the Lower Rio Grande Valley from desert ranch land to fertile and profitable citrus groves. It is for these reasons that the Shary Building, which represents the culmination of John Shary's business enterprises, is nominated under Criterion B for its association with the career of the "Citrus King".

In addition to its many noteworthy historical associations, the Shary Building is also significant for its architecture and is nominated to the NRHP under Criterion C. The 1996 historic resources survey of Mission identified 128 commercial buildings-the vast majority of which housed retail enterprises but the Shary Building was the only historic office building documented during the study. Besides being an uncommon building type in Mission, the Shary Building also is one of the few architect-designed buildings in the city.

The building's architect, Harvey P. Smith, of San Antonio, was best known for his preservation and restoration efforts. His experience with Spanish Colonial missions in the southwestern states, of California, Arizona, and New Mexico, made him a qualified expert on restoration projects that included the Governor's Palace and the San José y San Miguel de Aguayo Mission in San Antonio during the 1930s. Smith demonstrated his design diversity in other projects such as a residence for conjoined twins Violet and Daisy Hilton, and the Sunken Garden Theater in Brackenridge Park. By the time John Shary commissioned Smith to design his office building in 1939, Smith's knowledge of Spanish Colonial architecture and his prominent career had already been established. His qualifications made Smith an appropriate choice to design the showplace of Mission that Shary intended his office building to be.

Like most of the city's historic commercial buildings, the Shary Building is reminiscent of the region's Spanish Colonial architectural traditions. However, with its symmetrically composed primary facade, broken scroll pediment above the front entrance, and ancones and classically inspired hood molds over the ground-floor windows, the Shary Building exhibits architectural elements associated with the Mediterranean style. The Shary Building also retains its integrity to a high degree. The only major alteration is a 1-story addition at the rear of the north facade. Although visible from the front, the side addition is set back from the building's core and has Spanish tile roofing compatible with the building's original roofing material.

Local significance of the building:
Listed in National Register of Historic Places in 2002.