Blog Post 2: My Downtown Replica Model...Talk About Unique!

Anthony McWilliams
Aug 8
5 min read

7/17/2025

My replica model of downtown Brownsville along with souvenirs at a local event called First Friday also in downtown.

Background

In my previous post I discussed on having a unique product to sell for your souvenir store. Unique and local does sell, even to locals. But what can attract more crowds is something that is not just unique but a WOW! factor. I'm sure that in every town or city there's something that stands out that people like to go visit and experience. Take San Antonio for example, who doesn't know about its River Walk? Even small towns can have something that other towns/cities don't.

In Brownsville, it's not just the historical buildings, which just about any town or city will have, but the quantity and quality of the buildings. Brownsville is also unique in it's proximity to Mexico, a stone throw away, but also close to the beach, sub-tropical climate, a large and active Port of Brownsville, and now Spacex at Starbase City. There's also lots more to Brownsville but I'm going to focus on it's core, the downtown. I love building architecture and never noticed that our city has incredible architecture, just that a lot of it is still covered up by the 1950s to 1960s modernism that shunned historical architecture in favor of sleek and minimalism. Unfortunately, just about every city and town across the US faced this and a lot of historical buildings were demolished or covered up. Brownsville is no different. See image below.

Top image c. 1900s. Bottom image 2023. On both sides of the street you see what the buildings looked before and today. Many cities still have buildings covered up like the ones above.

Slowly but surely this cosmetic makeover is slowly being peeled away as more of the downtown buildings are renovated back to it's original form. It will still take many more years but eventually I can see most of the buildings restored to their former beauty. What makes Brownsville unique is not just in architecture that ranges from the 1840s to the present but also in the sheer number of historical buildings still remaining. Some say it's second to San Antonio, but that's just a rumor I've heard over the years 🤫. But there's no doubt about the density of the historical buildings remaining.

Preserving and Restoring the Amazing Architecture of Brownsville Brownsville’s downtown is one of the most historic sites in Texas. The downtown has an impressive collection of 19th and 20th century architectural jewels. This newly designated historic district encompasses 76.5 acres – about 30 blocks – where 349 historically significant buildings are found. Of the 349, 240 are contributing structures...

Why Build a 3D Model?

Back in the early 2000s I created the first website for Brownsville building architecture called A Pictorial History of Brownsville: Past, Present and Future (www.brownsvilletexasonline.com, no longer active). Back then I had to use my Canon camera to take pictures of the buildings and creating websites was a learning process that sometimes involved learning html coding. A time before Facebook and all other social media sites. It was a project way ahead of its time. I posted information about each historical building with a before and after images. It was very detailed and meticulous.

Today, creating a website is as easy as just click, click, click. Social Media is ubiquitous and several groups posting about Brownsville and images all on a smartphone. The information no longer needs to be linear. Add to the fact that now there is Google Maps and Street View. You can view any place in default or satellite view. Can look up any restaurant, retail, or bar in that area. Posting an image is no longer a WOW factor.

Google Maps eagle eye view of downtown Brownsville in center. Matamoros, Mexico on left with the Gateway International bridge and the B&M Int'l bridge connecting it on left and top left.

Google Maps Street view of Elizabeth Street downtown Brownsville.

So in comes 3d printing. Even though 3d printing has been around since the 1980s, it's only been in the last 10 years that the cost, printer technology, design and slicer software have matured enough to for greater general use. It's still requires knowledge and understanding to use a 3d printer but not for everyone like you would use a regular home printer. That's probably still years away.

3d printing offers something that was not possible before without a lot of work, time and skill; bring the world to life from design on a computer to a real object. In comes my 3d designed and printed replica model of downtown Brownsville. This model is unique in it's own way. There may be similar models out there that replicates a city, i.e. Queens Museum| The Panorama of the City of New York. This is a 1:1200 scale model of the five boroughs of NYC.

Queens Museum | The Panorama of the City of New York.

At 1:1200 scale there won't be a lot of detail. Mainly the shape and color of the buildings not much more. I eventually went with a 1:400 scale, larger scale, because at this scale the buildings will be larger with more details such as doors, windows, brick, etc.

MODELING IN SCALE - Conversion Charts, Sizes, FAQs

Creating a replica of downtown Brownsville using a 3d printer to sell local souvenirs goes hand-in-hand. I 3d print some souvenirs a well as design and create others such as t-shirts, mugs, etc.

Adding to the uniqueness of the model is that each building, block, street and intersection and designed and printed individually. Then each building is set into the block like Legos. Below are images of the design, slicing (software for telling the printer how to print) and 3d printed buildings.

See more images of the Brownsville Downtown - Replica (Scale 1:400)