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PHARR, TEXAS
Hidalgo County,
South Texas
US 83 and US 281
5 miles E of McAllen
25 miles W of Harlingen
Population:
46,660 (2000) 32,921 (1990)
Book
Your Hotels Here & Save
Pharr
Hotels
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Pharr
Texas Bank and Post Office (and cigar store)
1918-1920 photo courtesy texasoldphotos.com |
History
in a Pecan Shell
Originally a Spanish land grant made in 1767, heirs broke the grant
into smaller tracts in the late 1800s. John Connely Kelley and Henry
N. Pharr arrived about 1909 and bought 16,000 acres of land. Pharr,
a Louisiana sugarcane grower founded the Louisiana and Rio Grande
Canal Company to construct an irrigation system for a sugar plantation.
Kelley formed the Pharr Townsite Company, naming the new town after
his partner.
Pharr became a stop on the St. Louis, Brownsville and Mexico Railway
around 1911. Four thousand acres had already been sold to settlers
and the town had a depot, hotel and bank. The Rio Grande valley sugarcane
industry went bust - dashing Pharr's hopes. Kelley assumed control
of the existing irrigation system and supplied water to vegetable
and cotton farmers. In 1915 the population was a mere 600.
In 1916 the town incorporated and it had its own newspaper three years
later. That same year Pharr and two other small communities formed
the Pharr-San Juan-Alamo ISD.
First
Pharr School, 1911 - next page
First Pharr-San
Juan-Alamo School, 1915 - next page
By 1920 Pharr had grown to 1 nearly 1,560 and eleven years later it
had doubled. The population was 4,784 in 1940. In 1956 a vote to merge
with neighboring McAllen was soundly defeated. By 1960 the population
had reached 14,000 and by 1990 it was nearly 33,000. |
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Pharr
Hotel
1913 photo courtesy texasoldphotos.com |
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Downtown
Pharr
Postcard courtesy rootsweb.com/
~txgenweb// postcards/Index.html |
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Pharr
post office
Postcard courtesy rootsweb.com/
~txgenweb// postcards/Index.html |
Pharr Attractions:
Santa Ana
National Wildlife Refuge - 956-784-7500
Abundant wildlife, plants, and birds (many not found anywhere else
in the United States.) Entrance quarter mile east of the intersection
of US 281 and FM 907. 4 miles East of the Pharr/Reynosa International
Bridge.
Smitty's
Juke Box Museum - 956-787-0131
116 West State. Mon. -Fri. 9AM- 4PM
Ye Old Clock
Museum - 956-787-1923
East Preston Ave. Mon.- Fri. 1 -5PM
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Pharr Texas
Forum
Anyone wishing
to share history or photos of Pharr, Texas, please contact
us.
© John Troesser
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