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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
Book Hotel: McAllen
Hotels |
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
|
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| | Even
gargoyles are colorful in McAllen
This one adorns a former Elementary School
TE photo |
| McAllen
Vintage Postcard Images |
| | "City
of Palms"
McAllen, Texas
Postcard courtesy rootsweb.com/
~txgenweb// postcards/Index.html |
| | Main
Street, McAllen, Texas, 1922
Postcard courtesy rootsweb.com/
~txgenweb//
postcards/Index.html |
| | 1940s
Main Street, McAllen, Texas
Postcard courtesy rootsweb.com/
~txgenweb//
postcards/Index.html |
| | 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
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| Texas
Escapes, in its purpose to preserve historic, endangered and vanishing
Texas, asks that anyone wishing to share their local history and vintage/historic
photos of their town, please contact
us. | |
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