John Taini

Taini came from Brescia, in Lombardy, part of a wave that grew the Italian population of Texas from 186 in 1870 to 8,024 by 1920. Lombards helped build the New York, Texas and Mexican Railway, the Macaroni Line, between Victoria and Rosenberg; Sicilians farmed the lower Brazos valley; Piedmontese settled Montague County; and Modenese, Venetians and Piedmontese mined coal at Thurber. Most were farmers, miners or laborers. Their communities rested on the immigrant church, the Italian-language press and benevolent societies. In 1980, 189,799 Texans claimed Italian descent.

What the plaque says

John Taini On November 1, 1854, John Taini was born in Rezzato, Italy (near Brescia) to Gerolamo and Lucia Prandelli Taini. John later became a stonemason there, and an American contractor recruited him and his partner, G.B. Cassinelli, to build structures in New York. Although those projects fell through, Taini and Cassinelli worked for the railroads and then for the U.S. Army constructing stone buildings at Fort Clark in Brackettville, Texas. Like many hired to work at Fort Clark, Taini and Cassinelli later moved to Del Rio, where many other Italians immigrated in the 1880s. Family tradition holds that Taini returned to Italy in 1889 to wed Erminia Gerola (1874-1955). The couple reared two daughters, Annie and Lucy. Taini maintained his partnership with Cassinelli, building several structures, as well as buying and selling real estate in the Del Rio area. As a stonemason, Taini worked as a sub-contractor on the Val Verde County Courthouse in 1885. Other projects at that time included Southern Pacific Railroad employee housing, Sacred Heart Catholic Church, Club Café, the 1904 Methodist church building and numerous residences. Taini's partnership with Cassinelli dissolved by 1904, but he continued working on construction projects. He won multiple county and city contracts, including work on the county jail, bridges, canal and creek improvements, and two dams across San Felipe Creek. Unfortunately, many of Taini's structures were damaged or razed as a result of a 1998 flood. In addition to Taini's architectural contributions, he was also a leader in the Del Rio community. He donated land for civic improvements and served as an election judge and on the board of directors of the Italian Catholic Cemetery, now part of Sacred Heart Cemetery, where he was buried in 1929. (2006)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Whitehead Memorial Museum — 0.5 mi
  A village of old Del Rio buildings set along a working irrigation canal, from an 1870 store to a 1925 doctor's office, with Judge Roy Bean buried on the grounds.
• San Felipe Creek — 0.5 mi
  The spring-fed creek that made Del Rio, rising from the third largest springs in Texas and running past swimming holes and a hike-and-bike trail through town.
• Val Verde Winery — 0.9 mi
  The family winery an Italian immigrant founded on Del Rio's irrigated land in 1883, which outlasted Prohibition by selling table grapes and kept Texas wine alive into the 1970s.
• Amistad National Recreation Area — 9.3 mi
  The American side of the reservoir the United States and Mexico finished in 1969 where three rivers meet, with painted shelters still reachable by boat when the water allows.

More markers nearby

• Val Verde County Courthouse Square — steps away
• Camp Hudson, C.S.A. — steps away
• First United Methodist Church of Del Rio — steps away
• Max and Anna Stool — 0.2 mi