Designed by San Antonio architect Harvey P. Smith, this two-story brick building with white stone trimming was erected on the site of Mission founder John Conway's business offices. Intended to house the multi-firm organization of John H. Shary, known as "The Father of the Texas Citrus Industry," it was completed in 150 days by June 1939 at an original cost of $40,000. Its distinctive Spanish Colonial Revival design incorporates many features of the Mexican Colonial style, including an exposed tile roof with clipped eaves like the thatched roofs of Mexican domestic architecture, and concrete tiers on its first-story windows that evoke the wrought iron brackets of 19th-century Mexican balconies. Wrapped in native brick painted white, the building insulated itself in Mission's humid climate until the late 1940s, when central air became practical. A 1979 addition created a one-story "City Hall Room" wing set back from the main elevation to blend with the original L shape. Dedicated to the community in 1939, the building became the offices of the City of Mission after its sale in 1960 by Shary's daughter and her husband, former Texas Governor Allan Shivers.