History
1940 Train-Truck Collision
On March 14, 1940, at this crossing of Tower Road and the Missouri Pacific rail line occurred an automobile accident resulting in the most fatalities on a Texas highway in the 20th century. An oncoming train collided with a truck carrying more than 40 agricultural workers, killing 34 of the workers, who ranged in age from ten to 48.
Military
1st North Dakota Infantry
Erected 7 April 1960 In recognition of 1007 officers and enlisted men of the 1st North Dakota Infantry, North Dakota National Guard which occupied this area as a camp site 1916-1917. HISTORY Organized as 1st Dakota Infantry 1883 Redesignated 1st North Dakota Infantry 1885 FEDERAL SERVICE Span.-Amer.
Civic & Local
American Legion Hall
Donna Border Post No. 107. Dedicated 1920. First American Legion Hall built or owned by any post in the world. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1964
History
Approximate Site of Mission San Joaquin del Monte a Visita
Established in 1749 as part of Jose de Escandon's project to settle the region and civilize and Christianize the Indians. Erected by the State of Texas 1936
History
Asadores Ranch
Salvador Cavazos Gallegos and his wife, Maria San Juana Anzaldua, founded Asadores Ranch in 1881 on the Mexican La Blanca land grant to Lino Cavazos. The Cavazos family raised cattle and horses and grew corn, beans and other crops along the Rio Grande. Cavazos family members and ranch workers formed a small but important community.
Military
Battle of La Bolsa
In 1859 and early 1860 a series of raids on Texas settlements led by Juan N. Cortina (1824-1894) led to skirmishes with companies of Texas Rangers and U.S. soldiers. These conflicts became known as the Cortina Wars. On February 4, 1860, a battle occurred at La Bolsa Bend (ca. 1 mi. S.) between Cortina's raiders and Capt. John S. "Rip" Ford's Texas Rangers.
History
Bazán and Longoria Murders
On September 27, 1915, Jesus Bazán and his son-in-law, Antonio Longoria ' both recognized Tejano community leaders and the latter a Hidalgo County commissioner ' traveled to a local Texas Ranger camp on the Sam Lane ranch to report a horse robbery that occurred a few days prior at their ranch north of the Rio Grande in Hidalgo County.
Nature
Bentsen-Rio Grande Valley State Park
Before colonization, this valley was a lush thicket of woodlands and brush, nourished with rich soil deposited by the Rio Grande. Throughout the Lower Valley the landscape represented a broad variety of plants and animals. Types more common north of the river coexisted here with those more common to the south.
History
Bessie (Steamboat)
The steamboat "Bessie", last of the Mifflin Kenedy-Richard King Rio Grande shipping fleet of the mid-1800s, carried this 400-pound bell instead of a whistle. After its final trip on the river in 1902, the bell "Bessie" was used until 1909 on John Closner's plantation east of Hidalgo.
History
Brushwood Cemetery
Brushwood Cemetery was established as a municipal burial ground for the town of Chapin (now Edinburg) in 1913, five years after the town's founding. The earliest known burial here was that of Antonia Hernandez de Ramos, who died in 1913. Older graves dating to 1898 were relocated here from El Granjeno Cemetery near the town of Mission. More than 1,000 graves are located here.
History
Buell School
Constructed in 1927-28 to serve Mexican-American children in the Pharr-San Juan school district, this school replaced an earlier facility at this site. The new school was named in honor of educator Helen W. Buell (1861-1949), principal of the Pharr Mexican Ward School from 1924 to 1932.
History
Camp Ebenezer
From 1902 to 1909 Peter Ebenezer Blalock and George L. Hawkins bought 32,000 acres of land here. By 1908 they had built shipping pens at this site and named the railroad depot Ebenezer. Their ranching plans ended in 1909 when the tract was sold to the Alamo Land and Sugar Company. Under the direction of C. H. Swallow (1868-1957), the company colonized the land after 1914.
Military
Camp Llano Grande
Occupied in 1916-17 by Indiana, Nebraska, Minnesota and North Dakota National Guard units, Camp Llano Grande was one of a line of encampments established along the Rio Grande in response to Mexican bandit raids into the U.S. Covering over 200 acres, it included a headquarters building, commissary, and recreational facilities.
Military
Camp Mercedes
In March 1917, prior to U.S. entry into World War I, Maj. Gen. John J. Pershing chose Mercedes as the site of a permanent camp for training personnel to serve overseas in France. Construction of Camp Mercedes on the 80-acre Emerson Farm tract southeast of town was completed in April 1917. The post centered on a parade ground lined by 23 barracks buildings and 14 look-alike officers bungalows.
History
Campacuas Cemetery
Antonio Cano (1811-1877) established Rancho Guadalupe at Campacuas in 1836. That year, he wed Mauricia Fernandez (1814-1906) in Reynosa, Mexico. The couple had five children. The original Cano Ranch, enlarged through the years, was on part of the Llano Grande royal land grant, and it fronted the Rio Grande and extended north about 15 miles.
Military
Campsite of the "Fighting 69th"
Famed New York Infantry Regiment. Encamped in McAllen during 1916-1917 bandit troubles, guarding the border and preventing the smuggling of arms across Rio Grande to Pancho Villa. Tour of duty here seasoned the men for rigors of World War I, wherein regiment won undying glory in France. (1970)
History
Casa de Palmas
This site was a city park with antelope, javelina, and deer before a group a businessmen decided McAllen needed a hotel to serve as a business and social center. The Casa De Palmas, a three-story structure with a red tile roof built around a center patio and twin towers, was erected here in 1918. It served as a refuge for many area residents during the severe 1919 hurricane.
History
Chimney Park_Site of Mission Canal Co. Pumping Plant
In 1907, John J. Conway and James W. Hoit began the Mission Canal Co. Irrigation System, which was instrumental in the early agricultural growth of the area. Here they built the first pump station out of hand made brick from Madero. The 106-ft. chimney carried smoke from wood-fired boilers which produced steam to drive the pump. The plant was later operated by John H.
History
Citrus Fruit Developed in Rio Grande Valley - Red-Meat Grapefruit
Unique and colorful product of saline-alkaline soil of Rio Grande Valley of Texas. Bred of Thompson Pink Wood budded on Sour Orange rootstock. Two nurserymen, A. E. Henninger of Mission and Dr. J. R. Webb of Donna, discovered red fruit in their orchards in 1929. They cast lots and Henninger won right to get a patent. He named his variety "Ruby Red," and was issued U.S. Plant Patent No. 53. Dr.
History
City of Pharr
For many centuries, nomadic Coahuiltecans lived in the Lower Rio Grande area. In the 1500s, Spanish explorers came through the region, and the Spanish government began to colonize both sides of the river by the late 1700s. At the close of the U.S.-Mexico War in 1848, the Rio Grande was established as the official boundary. In 1909, John C. Kelly, Henry N. Pharr, W.E. Cage and R.C.
Architecture
Cortez Hotel
Three years after Edwin C. Couch and Robert Reeves founded the city of Weslaco in 1919, Couch deeded this block as a city park. In 1928, city officials hired architect Paul G. Silber and his San Antonio Argentum Development Corporation to build a hotel here. The four-story Spanish Colonial Revival structure became a social center when it opened December 31, 1928.
Military
Cpl. Harlon Block, USMC
During World War II, U.S. forces captured the small yet strategic Japanese-held Pacific Island of Iwo Jima. On Feb. 23, 1945, during combat, marine Harlon Block aided in laying telephone wire up an inert volcano. At the summit, Block and five others improvised a flagpole, attaching a flag visible to those on the island and outlying ships.
History
D. Guerra & Sons Store
Brothers Enrique (1886-1935) and Modesto (1888-1927) Guerra opened a grocery business in the new town of McAllen in 1908. Their father, Diódoro (1867-1932), joined them in 1910, and the men established D. Guerra and Sons Store. The business moved into this new building in 1912 and operated until 1964.
History
Don Florencio Saenz Homestead
Built on family Spanish land grant in 1902. Headquarters for Toluca Ranch, which at one time stretched 17 mi. north from the Rio Grande. Here Saenz operated a mercantile store, promoting cattle ranching and river farming as successful business ventures for the Valley. Site of 1915 bandit raid in which a private was killed when U.S.
History
Donna
Two East Texas men, T. J. Hooks and A. F. Hester, began developing this area for settlement in the late 1890s. Through formation of the La Blanca Agricultural Company, they set up farms and irrigation systems and advertised the area's favorable climate and resources. In 1904, when a rail line was built here, they founded the town of Donna, named for T. J. Hooks daughter.
Elsewhere in Texas
Hear it from the road
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