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| "The
old depot which was once a stop on the historic Spiderweb Railroad. The depot
was restored about 10 years ago and is now a business of some sort." - A.D. Garza,
April 2007 photo. More Texas
Depots |
History in
a Pecan Shell
In 1776 when the United States was declaring its independence from England,
Juan José Hinojosa was requesting a land grant here from the Spanish Crown. Fourteen
years later (1790) the grant was approved as part of the Llano Grande grant. Throughout
the entire 19th Century, the land around modern-day Progreso was occupied by small
ranches and family farms. The largest spread was Toluca Ranch in 1880 and
a post office was requested under the name Toluca. But for whatever reason, postal
authorities issued the name Progreso. The office operated under that name from
1901 through 1916. In 1903 developers bought the former ranches and started subdividing
the land. A nucleus developed two miles NW of the post office and they appropriated
the name.
Sugarcane became an important regional crop and in
1920 over 6,000 acres (including the fledgling Progreso and Progreso Lakes) was
sold to become a vast sugarcane plantation. During the progressive 20s, the San
Benito and Rio Grande Valley Railroad arrived - installing a short-lived mission-style
depot (closed 1931). After a 1925 freeze killed the cane crop, it was decided
that citrus might be more resistant to cold weather. The town was platted
by the Progreso Development Company in 1927. The 1929 stock market crash, followed
by a hurricane in 1933 that sent the region into a downward economic spiral. Things
got better but a postwar freeze in 1949 followed closely by a second freeze in
1951 made growers return to raising cane. |
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Citrus
Orchard
Postcard courtesy www.rootsweb.com/ %7Etxpstcrd/ |
Earlier population
figures aren't available but as recent as 1940, Progresso only had 100 citizens.
By the mid-1950s it had more than doubled to 220. It was estimated at a mere 185
in 1989, but mysteriously jumped to nearly 2,000 for the 1990 Census. A new bridge
across the Rio Grande helped bolster the population and by 2000, it had swelled
to 3,500, increasing to 4,851 (the figure given on the 2007 state map).
Where
to Stay > Hidalgo
Hotels |
Toluca
Ranch St. Joseph Church and cemetery
Photo courtesy Barclay
Gibson, July 2004 |
Toluca RanchPhotographer's
Note
Toluca Ranch
is in Hidalgo County about 1-1/2 miles southeast of Progreso. The only reference
I have ever seen to this church was in the September, 1993, issue of Texas Highways
Magazine. It is on private property and didn't look like it was being used. There
looks like a small cemetery next to the church. - Barclay
Gibson, January 24, 2010
Where
to Stay > Weslaco
Hotels |
Toluca
Ranch St. Joseph Church
Photo courtesy Barclay
Gibson, July 2004 |
Historical
Marker (Progreso City hall, FM 1015, 3 miles N of Hwy
281)ProgresoLand
in this area was part of a Spanish land grant requested by Juan Jose Hinojosa
in 1776 and awarded posthumously in 1790. Hinojosa had occupied the land and used
it for livestock pasture since 1766. In 1896 ranchers in the area obtained a U.S.
post office under the name Progreso. Soon thereafter commercial farming interests
began large scale operations in growing sugar cane and, later, citrus groves.
The Progreso Development Company platted the townsite in 1927. The town continued
a steady period of growth, and citizens voted for incorporation in 1991.
(1994) |
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