The building now known as the Republic of the Rio Grande Museum, at 1005 Zaragoza Street in Laredo, was constructed in the 1830s as the sandstone-and-adobe residence of Bartolome Garcia, a prominent local rancher and mayor. According to long-standing local tradition, in 1840 the house briefly served as the capitol of the Republic of the Rio Grande, a short-lived breakaway federalist republic formed by northern Mexican states, including Tamaulipas, Coahuila, and Nuevo Leon, that rebelled against Mexico's centralist government and declared Laredo its capital; the rebellion collapsed within the year and the border region returned to Mexican control. After the Republic's fall the house remained a private residence, staying in the Garcia family until 1878 before passing through several owners; the Laredo Independent School District acquired it around 1918 and used it for decades as a classroom for Laredo High School, giving the building a long secondary life as an educational facility. In 1960 a local corporation purchased and restored the property with the Laredo Historical Society, and it opened in 1962 as a museum, becoming the first building in Laredo awarded a state historical medallion. Today, maintained by the Webb County Heritage Foundation, the building functions as a museum documenting the Republic of the Rio Grande episode and life along the border from 1840 to 1930, featuring period artifacts and a recreated 1830s ranching-era room.