Tony Russo’s Grocery Shop

This interesting building at 1620 Edwards St. demanded my immediate attention during a late-night bike ride through Houston’s Old 6th Ward. The faded and painted-over signage were telling indicators that this seemingly unassuming Pentecostal church had a different identity many years ago.

The “1928” at the top provided the likely date of construction, but the covered words underneath were more of a challenge. After an hour (okay, maybe 2) of poring over old newspaper advertisements and directory records, I learned that today’s Templo de Avivamiento Pentecostal church used to be Tony Russo’s Grocery shop.

While Tony Russo did have an earlier grocery store at the same address, the current building was constructed in 1928. The current owners purchased the building in 1992.

Mr. Russo was an Italian immigrant, born in 1896. They resided at 1306 Rosedale before moving to 1309 Sabine Street, where he remained with his wife Mary (b. 1899) and their two sons, Joe (b. 1922) and Jack (b. 1920).

The 1309 Sabine Street home was built around 1938-1939 with wood from the Montalbano Lumber Company, who used the home in a 1939 Houston Chronicle advertisement:

The Russo family home is still standing today and you can check it out below, courtesy of Google Maps.