Brown Plaza stood at the heart of Del Rio, a city built on the site of a Pre-Colombian Indian village where abundant water first attracted Indians and later drew some of the earliest Europeans to visit Texas, including Cabeza De Vaca in 1535 and Castano de Sosa in 1590. The permanent community of San Felipe Del Rio was founded after frontier protection was assured in the 1860s, and the San Felipe Agricultural, Manufacturing & Irrigation Company, organized on Oct. 8, 1869, encouraged settlement by giving land along San Felipe Creek as wages to its employees. Railroad lines reached Del Rio in 1884 and furthered its growth. Dedicated on Cinco De Mayo in 1908, Brown Plaza became a gathering place for the community, where a bandstand, or Kiosko, built by local people hosted musical concerts, political and social gatherings, formal promenades, and even travelers resting and cooking food over charcoal fires. George Washington Brown, born in North Carolina in 1836 and later a westward migrant, donated the plaza and served Texas for 43 years as county clerk and district clerk; the plaza was restored in 1969.