La Nueva Libertad

Don Andres Cueto, like many other merchants in Brownsville, immigrated from Spain. Most likely he was headed to Matamoros, but the chaos created from constant revolution led many to settle on the relatively stable north side of the river. Cueto’s first store was catty-corner, and simply named ‘Libertad.’ In 1893, he moved the store and renamed it the ‘new’ Libertad, or ‘La Nueva Libertad.’ Inside was a grocer, pawn shop and bakery.