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For
some reason, this town seems to stand out as the Hub of the Valley.
West of here are the smaller towns that become known to true connoisseurs
of the Valley. Edinburg
is technically connected, but they haven't merged like Bryan-College
Station although they might have by the time you read this. Traffic
is noticeably more congested but still not as bad as back home. It's
the only city we know where the busiest street is 10th. One has to
feel for early residents who bought on this street thinking it would
be far away from Main Street hustle and bustle.
Since the tallest building in the Valley is here (visible from Mexico)
it's not easy to get lost in McAllen. At the foot of this building
is an arch from the old McAllen High School (NE corner of the parking
lot). |
The stone arch
of the front of the McAllen High School preserved at the corner of
12th street and Austin Ave.
Photo
courtesy Ken
Rudine, March 2008
See Texas
Schoolhouses |
Other outstanding
architectural points of interest include the old Southern Pacific
Railroad Station on Bicentennial. After passenger service dropped
off, the building has been vacant, has headquartered the Police and
other city departments, and is currently home to a law firm.
To show their appreciaton of their winter guests, McAllen has monthly
picnics honoring them state by state. A few Iowans have been known
to show up at the Illinois picnic, but this was only in retaliation
for the ugly 1938 incident which we will not discuss here.
© John
Troesser |
McAllen Street
Names:
Street
Name Trivia by Joe Foster
"A set of McAllen avenues are named alphabetically for trees...,
flowers, and birds..." more
Subject:
Addition to "Street
Name Trivia" for McAllen
Please add the following to "Street Name Trivia" for McAllen by
Joe Foster.
McAllen is one of the easiest towns to navigate. The town plat was
based on the railroad and the canal. Old Business 83 paralleled
the East/West railroad. Per Joe Foster, the streets north of the
railroad were named alphabetically after trees, flowers and birds.
South of the railroad streets were alphabetically named for towns
and girls' names. If a Texas town was not available, the planners
went outside the state. So ... Austin, Beaumont, Chicago, Dallas,
Erie, Fresno, Galveston, Houston, Ithica, Jackson, Kennedy, Lindberg,
Mobile, Newport, Oakland, Portland, Quebec, Richmond, Savannah,
Toronto, Uvalde, Vermont, Victoria, Wichita, Yuma, Zion.
The next set started as Aztec, Balboa, Cortez, Diaz, and El Rancho
but stopped.
Another list started when McAllen expanded to the south: Agusta,
Balboa, Covina, Daytona, Elmira, Francisca, Gloria, Helena, Idela,
Judith, Katrina, Lucille, Melba, Norma, Olga, Paula, Queta, Rosalva,
Sarah, Tanya, Teresa, Ursula, Vanessa, Wanda.
The numerical streets that run North and South started with 1st
(east of the canal) and 2nd (west of the canal). Numbers were added
as McAllen grew to the West. They stopped when they reached the
neighboring towns of Sharyland or Mission. The open canal was eventually
enclosed. Also, 13th is Broadway and 14th is Main Street. - Ella
Aubin, January 12, 2012
Book
Hotel: McAllen
Hotels
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McAllen Texas
Natural Attractions
Bentsen-Rio
Grande Valley State Park
Boca
Chica State Park
McAllen Nearby
Destinations
Hwy 281 North
8 mile to Edinburg.
Hwy 83 East
15 miles to Weslaco,
another 19 miles to Harlingen
Hwy 83 West
45 miles to Roma,
via Mission,
Rio Grande
City, and don't miss the hand-operated ferry in Los
Ebanos.
Just a few
miles south of McAllen is Hidalgo,
where you can cross the border to visit Reynosa
in Mexico.
Book Hotel Here:
McAllen
Hotels
McAllen
Chamber of Commerce 1-800-250-2591
10 North Broadway.
www.mcallen.org
For our readers that are interested in Demographics (and who isn't)
the chamber has a US Map in lieu of a guest book. Visitors are encouraged
to insert a map tack into their city of origin.
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Even
gargoyles are colorful in McAllen
This one adorns a former Elementary School
TE photo |
McAllen,
Texas
Vintage Postcard Images
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"City
of Palms"
McAllen, Texas
Postcard courtesy rootsweb.com/
~txgenweb// postcards/Index.html |
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Main
Street, McAllen, Texas, 1922
Postcard courtesy rootsweb.com/
~txgenweb// postcards/Index.html |
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1940s
Main Street, McAllen, Texas
Postcard courtesy rootsweb.com/
~txgenweb// postcards/Index.html |
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McAllen,
Texas street scene
Postcard courtesy rootsweb.com/
~txgenweb// postcards/Index.html |
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U.S.
Post Office
Postcard courtesy rootsweb.com/
~txgenweb// postcards/Index.html |
| Texas
Escapes, in its purpose to preserve historic, endangered and vanishing
Texas, asks that anyone wishing to share their local history, stories,
landmarks and recent or vintage photos, please contact
us. |
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