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"Here
was Santa Rita
First Anglo-American Settlement on Lower Rio Grande and
County Seat of Cameron County 1848-1849"
Photo courtesy Barclay
Gibson, September 2011 |
History
in a Pecan Shell
The first county seat of what would become
Cameron County, Santa Rita was named by José Narciso Cavazos of Reynosa
in the late 1700s. The community that formed here predated Matamoros’ official
birthyear of 1826. Around 1830 the Rio Grange changed course, leaving Santa Rita
firmly on the north side of the river.
In 1834 an man named John Stryker
was given permission by the Mexican government to settle here and with the outbreak
of the Mexican War, Americans living in Mexico sought refuge here.
At
the end of the war, Cameron County came into being (1848) with Santa Rita serving
as the county seat.
An election was held later that year and the more
prosperous town of Brownsville
won out. Not a trace of Santa Rita was left by the 1930s, but it was remembered
by historians and the Texas Centennial Committee included it on their list of
places receiving historical markers. |
Santa
Rita Texas Centennial Marker Text
Photo courtesy Barclay
Gibson, September 2011 |
Santa
Rita Tx Centennial Marker
Photo courtesy Barclay
Gibson, September 2011 |
Oblate Fathers Trail 1949 Road
Marker
Photo courtesy Barclay
Gibson, September 2011 |
Site
of Santa Rita Texas
Photo courtesy Barclay
Gibson, September 2011 |
Texas
Escapes, in its purpose to preserve historic,
endangered and vanishing Texas, asks that anyone wishing to share their local
history, stories, and vintage/historic photos of their town/subject,
please contact
us. | |
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