| |
WESLACO,
TEXASHidalgo
County, South Texas
State Hwy 83 & FM 88
15 miles East of McAllen
15 miles West of Harlingen
7 miles SE to Nuevo Progresso, Mexico
Population: 26,935 (2000)
Home to an estimated 6,000 Winter Texans
|
 |
| History
in a Pecan Shell
The Spanish Land Grant refers to the area as Llano Grande and
date back to 1747. Over the years the huge tract was broken down into smaller
parcels. In 1904,
Lon C. Hill, founder of Harlingen
and Uriah Lott, brought the railroad through the underpopulated area which was
primarily ranchland at this time . Camp
Llano Grande was set up as part of a huge military buildup by the Army to
secure the U.S. Border during the turmoil in Mexico and occasional forays into
Texas by Mexican banditti. The
camp provided training for troops that would later be sent to France in WWI.
W. E. Stewart was a land developer from Kansas City who named the town after
his W.E. Stewart Land Co. The first lots of Stewart's 30,000 acres went up for
sale on December 10th 1919, but nobody felt like pouring foundations over the
holidays, so 1920 was the year things really got started. The
post-war optimism brought an influx of eager pioneers. Weslaco had been relying
on its neighbors of Mercedes
and Donna for mail
delivery and electricity until they got their own power plant and post office.
1920 also
gave Weslaco a posting of Texas Rangers. 1924 brought a fire, while 1927 brought
a permanent depot. In 1928 the beautifully detailed City Hall was built
and the Cortez
Hotel opened its doors on the last day of the year with a New Year's
Eve Ball. |
 |
Weslaco
City Hall / Fire Department / Jail 1928
R. Newell Waters - Architect
Photo courtesy Weslaco Museum |
The
Cortez
Hotel (Villa de Cortez Today)
Photo courtesy
Weslaco Museum |
It was a decade of accomplishments and by 1929 they had a lot to show for their
10th anniversary.
During prohibition there was a lot of traffic
on the bridge to go have a legal drink in Mexico and watch the dog races. Al Capone
was said to have spent some time here looking after his interests (which had nothing
to do with citrus).
The people of Weslaco came up with an idea to brighten
the gloom of the Great Depression in 1936 by lighting two blocks of Texas
Boulevard downtown with neon. |
Before
"Main Street Cities" there was Texas Avenue.
From
the historic photograph collection of Weslaco Museum |
Street
Scene, Weslaco, Texas 1926
Photo courtesy of Weslaco Museum |
| From
the historic photograph collection of Weslaco Museum |
|
Weslaco suffered the natural calamities of flood and hurricane, fire and
freeze.
In 1933, forty people were killed in what Floridians refer to
as The Labor Day Hurricane and the suspension bridge at Hidalgo
fell into the Rio Grande. The bridge
at the Mercedes-Rio Rico crossing collapsed in 1941.
A severe freeze
in 1951 killed an estimated 12 million grapefruit trees. |
Weslaco
Night Scene
Photo courtesy Ken
Rudine, November 2010 |
Weslaco
Area Attractions: The
Weslaco Museum: 515 Kansas Avenue
The
Harlon Block Memorial: 1100 Vo-Tech Drive (The Texas National Guard Armory)
Monument to a local youth who became one of the Marines who raised the flag at
Iwo Jima.
Valley
Nature Center: 301 S. Border at Gibson Park.
Hours: Tuesday through Saturday
9 to 1
Nature trail and exhibit hall of local flora including a lily pond
and cactus garden. 956-969-2475
Weslaco
Hotels > Book Your Hotel Here & Save |
Street
Name Trivia by Joe
Foster
A set of avenues in Weslaco were named for mostly NORTHERN states on the north
or both sides of town, and a few southern states on the southern side. They run
north to south, with a few other Texas nationalistic terms thrown in:
BORDER,
Colorado, REPUBLIC STREET/CALLE DE LA REPUBLICA, Oklahoma, Ohio, Georgia, Louisiana,
Indiana, Nebraska, Missouri, TEXAS BOULEVARD, Kansas, Illinois, Iowa, Tennessee,
Florida (next to ORANGE Ave.), Michigan, Oregon, Utah, and Nevada.
more |
Weslaco
Tourist InformationWeslaco
Chamber of Commerce: 1710 E. Pike Blvd. 956-968-2102
Website: www.weslaco.com
Rio
Grande Valley Tourist Information Center:
US HWY 83 & FM 1015 Mon through Fri 8:30 to 5. Weslaco
Hotels > Book Your Hotel Here & Save |
Weslaco's
unique story has a book of its own.
Authors:
Karen Gerhardt and Blanca E. Tamez
Order here >
Book
Your Hotel Here & Save
Weslaco
Hotels
More
Hotels |
|
| 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. |
© John Troesser
Photos provided by Weslaco Museum and Hidalgo County Historical
Museum.
First published December, 2000 |
| |
