Name: Alamo, Texas
Address: Alamo, TX

Alamo, TX RoadyGoat

Alamo, Texas. It's a place where the air smells faintly of orange blossoms much of the year, a reminder that this is fertile land, a place where things grow. You might not expect a lot of excitement in a town so flat you can see for miles, but Alamo has its stories. They say Pancho Villa, that revolutionary general, once stashed some treasure around here. Whether that's true or not, it adds a little spice to the everyday. But the real treasure here is the people.

Alamo, TX RoadyGoat

Alamo, Texas, sits right in the heart of the Rio Grande Valley, a place where the land is as flat as a tortilla and the citrus groves stretch as far as the eye can see. It’s easy to see why the railroad and irrigation transformed this spot into a farming hub, especially for the sweet oranges and grapefruit that thrive in this subtropical climate. The Alamo Land & Sugar Company gave the town its name back in '09, and you can still feel that agricultural heritage in the air. Some folks even whisper about Pancho Villa's hidden treasure somewhere around here, adding a dash of adventure to the everyday. But what really makes Alamo special isn’t just the fruit or the legends. It’s the people. There’s a real sense of community, a warmth that welcomes you right in. Family values run deep, and Friday night high school football games are practically sacred. The rivalry with nearby towns gets pretty intense, but it's all in good fun. It’s a place where everyone knows your name, and you're always welcome at the table.

Alamo, TX RoadyGoat

Alamo, Texas, still feels the reverberations of the freeze that gripped the Rio Grande Valley a couple of winters back. It wasn't just a cold snap; it was a citrus bloodbath. The orange and grapefruit groves, the very lifeblood of our economy since the early 20th century when irrigation and the railroad transformed this place, were devastated. You drive around now, and you still see the skeletal remains of trees, a harsh reminder of what we lost. Even though the Valley is relatively flat, only 79 feet above sea level, the cold air settled in, and our famous citrus, usually so resilient, couldn’t handle it. It’s more than just lost income; it’s a cultural wound. Generations have worked those groves, and seeing them decimated like that... well, it shook people. The spirit of Alamo, known for its warm community and strong family values, was tested. There's been a real push to diversify, to not rely so heavily on a single industry. People are talking about agritourism, about attracting more businesses to the area, about building on the Valley Vipers' popularity to draw in sports fans. It's a slow recovery, but there's a grit here, a determination to rebuild and come back stronger, even if it means looking beyond the citrus that has defined us for so long. We just have a few more scars now.

Train-Truck Collision

1940

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. The neighboring citrus packing plant served as headquarters for rescue operations. The tragedy affected many lives in the Alamo community and across the Rio Grande Valley, resulting in renewed attention to safety issues surrounding railroad crossings and the transportation of agricultural workers. 	(2002)

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San Juan Plantation

1884

San Juan Plantation, on the Rio Grande near San Juan, Hidalgo County, is recognized as a historic landmark by an official Texas historical marker on the plantation headquarters. The founder and developer of this, the earliest and largest plantation in an area at one time considered suitable only for grazing, was John Closner , a law enforcement officer for twenty-eight years, sometimes called "the father of Hidalgo County." He began buying land in 1884, and by 1904 San Juan Plantation, so named by Mrs. Closner, comprised 7,000 acres. The total eventually reached 45,000 acres. By 1895 Closner had installed a pumping plant and constructed a network of canals and laterals for the first irrigation system from the Rio Grande in the area. The equipment came by water to Port Isabel and was hauled by wagon the fifty-odd miles to the plantation. Closner was the first in that area to raise alfalfa, of which he had 700 acres flourishing under several cuttings a year; the first to experiment with tobacco crops; the first to experiment with sugarcane by cross-planting hybrid cane seed from Mexico with seed from Louisiana; and the first to experiment with commercial crops of vegetables, fruits, melons, and nuts. His findings in such diversified farming set a wide example. The first telephone line in that area, installed in 1902, connected Closner's home in Hidalgo to the headquarters of the plantation. Later he constructed a line to McAllen; the Hidalgo Telephone Company was formed with Closner as president. As the plantation progressed, the number of families of workers increased. A substantial school building was erected and equipped at a cost of $1,500 for the children of the plantation. Sugarcane from the plantation won the gold medal at the 1904 Exposition in St. Louis for the finest sugarcane in the world. At that time the plantation devoted 800 acres to sugarcane, which was processed into piloncillo (cones of coarse brown sugar) for the native trade on both sides of the Rio Grande. Production of sugar processed from a 250-ton mill began when boilers for the mill arrived after many transportation difficulties and at great expense. In 1908 Closner incorporated the Rio Grande Valley Reservoir and Irrigation Company, with J. R. Alamía and W. L. Lipscomb, to expand irrigation efforts in the area; but the plan never materialized. In 1910 he sold his plantation for $250,000. By 1921 sugarcane was gone from the Valley, but cotton, citrus fruits, and vegetables became important products because of the rich soil, climate, and irrigation, assets that Closner had recognized in the mid-1880s. A historical marker was placed at the site of San Juan Plantation in 1964. In 1990 the site was privately owned.

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San Juan, TX

1970

San Juan is on Farm Road 1426 and State Highway Spur 374, about six miles northeast of McAllen in south central Hidalgo County. The townsite is on land that was part of two Spanish grants made in 1767 to Narciso Cabazos and to José María Ballí. The grantees and their heirs occupied the land well into the 1850s, most likely working as subsistence farmers and cattle and sheep ranchers. San Juan was organized in 1909 by John Closner and was reportedly named for him. The town was incorporated on December 29, 1917, and in 1918 a school building was built there; previously classes had been held in the homes of local residents. The Pharr-San Juan-Alamo Independent School District, established on March 24, 1919, encompassed all of the schools in San Juan. In 1922 the city invested $42,000 for a new waterworks, and in 1924 a cotton compress, a cannery, and a cotton gin were constructed there. The population was estimated at 1,203 in 1925. In 1945 San Juan had the largest plant in the South for the manufacture of concrete pipe for irrigation drainage; at that time it also had citrus fruit and vegetable packing houses, a shippers' equipment manufacturing plant, and an iron foundry. The community was also known as the home of the Bougainvillea Trail of Texas. In 1945 the community reported forty-seven businesses and a population of 2,264. The Virgen de San Juan del Valle Shrine was constructed there in 1954 and immediately attracted many pilgrims and tourists. The community's population was estimated at 4,371 in 1960. During the mid-1960s the town reported ten churches, three schools, two hospitals, a library, a bank, a newspaper, and a new shopping center. In 1972 the town reported eighty businesses and a population of 5,070. San Juan made international headlines when, on October 23, 1970, Francis B. Alexander smashed a rented single-engine plane into the Virgen de San Juan del Valle Shrine. He had reportedly radioed a warning that all Methodist and Catholic churches in the lower Rio Grande Valley should be evacuated, then twenty minutes later struck the Shrine, which at the time was occupied by more than 130 people. Two priests were able to save the statue of the Virgin, but damages to the Shrine were estimated at $1.5 million and were a devastating blow to the community. A mass effort was initiated to reconstruct the church. San Juan continued to grow and by 1980 had an estimated population of 7,083 and seventy-four businesses. In April 1980 San Juan again made international headlines when the new Shrine was dedicated; the televised ceremonies were shown nationally on the Spanish Information Network. In 1992 San Juan reported a population of 10,815. Its economy was based primarily on agriculture and commerce; visitors to the Shrine were also important to the community. In 2000 the population reached 26,229.

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Virgen de San Juan del Valle Shrine

1949

The Virgen de San Juan del Valle Shrine, also known as Our Lady of San Juan Shrine, is staffed by the Oblates of Mary Immaculate and is located in San Juan, Hidalgo County, in the lower Rio Grande valley . The present edifice is the third in the history of the shrine. The first was a small wooden chapel built in 1920 by Rev. Alfonso Jalbert on the corner of Nebraska and Second Street in San Juan; at the time, it was a mission of St. Margaret Mary Church in Pharr. The first director, Father Joseph Azpiazu, realized that the shrines of Mexico, Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City and San Juan de Los Lagos in Jalisco, were both too far from Texas for Hispanics, particularly of South Texas and the Valley, to use them. In 1949 Azpiazu brought to his parish of St. John the Baptist a replica of the image of Our Lady of San Juan, venerated in Jalisco at San Juan de Los Lagos. The image is a statue about three feet high, clothed in traditional robes. Father Azpiazu hoped to foster a devotion to Our Lady of San Juan which would benefit his people and help draw the community together. Soon the church became a place of pilgrimage for many Mexican Americans in Texas; on weekends hundreds of pilgrims would come to San Juan to pray. The crowds grew, and in 1954 the construction of a larger shrine was completed and dedicated by Father Azpiazu. With a seating capacity of 800, it was large enough for the ordinary Sunday congregation served by many Masses throughout the day, but small enough so as to not overwhelm the humble migrants who came to pray. As weekly attendance jumped from thousands to tens of thousands, the shrine was lavishly ornamented with oil paintings, wood carvings, stained-glass windows, and statues. The shrine's services for the pilgrims were also expanded to include a Pilgrim House, cafeteria, retreat house, grade school, nursing home, and radio programs. A convent and rectory were also built. On October 23, 1970, while priests and worshippers were assembled in prayer, a pilot crashed his small plane into the roof. Because a steel beam prevented the plane from falling into the sanctuary, no one was injured, and the pilot was the only fatality. The image of the Virgin was rescued unharmed, but the shrine with its treasures was destroyed. For the next ten years the pilgrims continued to come to San Juan, and image was temporarily located in a cafeteria awaiting the construction of the new shrine. The ground breaking took place in 1976, and on April 19, 1980, the new shrine was dedicated, with Bishop John J. Fitzpatrick and Cardinal Humberto Medeiros in attendance. This basilica cost several million dollars and seats more than 1,800; the surrounding grounds are landscaped with the fourteen Stations of the Cross. The image of the Virgin is placed high in the sanctuary where it remains the center of the people's devotion. Pilgrims average from 10,000 to 20,000 weekly. They come from every state in the Union and from many foreign countries and find Masses, in both Spanish and English, in progress from early morning to late at night.

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Tom Mayfield

1898

(June 16, 1880 - November 26, 1966) Tom Mayfield left the Gonzales County farm of his parents, John and Maggie Mayfield, in 1898 to help buy horses for Teddy Roosevelt's Rough Riders. Between 1910-1921 Tom served as Pharr city marshal, Texas Ranger, and Hidalgo County deputy sheriff. His role in exposing a German-Mexican WWI plot in nearby San Diego and his amazing escape from a Mexican firing squad in 1921 made Tom a local celebrity. As Pharr-San Juan-Alamo's deputy constable (1938-1963) Tom gained the community's highest respect. He spent his last years as a resident of the San Juan Hotel. (1993)

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American Legion Hall

1920

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

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Alamo, Texas

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San Juan Plantation

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