Weslaco - Hometown

     Most of those living outside the Lower Rio Grande Valley do not know Weslaco. They have a hard time understanding the word, as well as writing it. They seem to hear "West -" something or other. Most in Texas know the Rio Grande Valley.

     Weslaco was founded in 1919. The name comes from the title holder of the land, the W.E. Stuart Land Company. The 2000 census listed 26, 900 residents. It is estimated that the new numeber will be around 34, 000.

I spoke before of the segregation that was in place, but unkown to me. Here is an excerpt from the University of Texas ______:

         "...A municipal ordinance of 1921 provided that the land north of the railroad tracks be designated for industry and Hispanic residences and businesses. The area to the south of the tracks was reserved for Anglo residences and businesses. This segregation was a consequence of the farm culture that had introduced the railroad. Weslaco developed as two cities. "El pueblo americano," as the Anglo side of town was called, consisted of well-built frame houses; it had paved streets and enclosed sewers. The Mexican side featured corrugated tin shacks, unpaved roads, and outhouses. Mexican women were supposed to shop on the Anglo side of town early on Saturdays only, and be back in "Mexican Town" by sunset. Streets north of the tracks had Spanish names, business was conducted in Spanish, and schools were established for Mexican children. In "American Town," streets were named for northern states...."

The Valley

       The towns of the Rio Grande Valley were established along US 83. Between McAllen and Harlingen, Weslaco is approximately in the middle.

When I moved to Washington's Yakima Valley, I thought I was living in a parallel universe. Although the Rio Grande Valley is not really a valley, the set up is the same - towns a few miles apart, along a main highway, in a rural agricultural area. Weslaco is about 4 miles from Donna to the west and Mercedes to the east. Alamo is 4 miles east of Donna and La Feria is 5 miles east of Mercedes, and so on. In Washington I was surprised to hear phrases familiar to my ears, "Valley Ready Mix, Largest Ford Dealer in the Valley, stop by and see us in the lower Valley."

Where it all began, The Cortez Hotel

The hotel is located at the intersection of Business Hwy 83 and Texas Blvd, Weslaco's main street. I heard that the sale of lots happened from a wagon at this intersection. Although I don't think it looked like this, the hotel housed people from the north looking for land deals.

The Cortez fell on hard times and stopped being a hotel. I remember a time when I could see windows broken and old curtains blowing in the breeze. It was later rennovated from top to bottom. The Cortez is now an event center and office complex. The bottom level has a restaurant, a formal-wear rental, and other businesses. The courtyard and the the lobby were the site of my last high school reunion. Yes, there is a bar.

Texas Blvd

The picture on the left was taken early Saturday, so the traffic is light. The one one the right is listed as a 1925 photo, but I think it was later. I think the smaller,older one may have been in 1925.

Because of its location and size, Weslaco is the shopping center for the surrounding towns. A new Lowes, JC Penney, and TJ Max opened recently. There is a12 screen cinema, Denny's, Chili's, and much more. The larger cities of McAllen (110,000) and Harlingen population 55,000, (2000 census), are other places people shop.

Old City Hall

 

Built in 1928, it used to house all of the city offices as well as the fire station. Now all of the city offices have moved to a much larger building. The EMS and Fire Station #2 remain. I could not find out who was depicted on the wall. They resembe the images of Columbus and Cortez.


Weslaco Hero

     In this iconic image of the raising of the flag at Iwo Jima, one of the six men was from Weslaco. He was Harlon Block, the soldier holding the base of the flag, crouching.  For a time he was buried in Weslaco and then his remains were relocated to the Iwo Jima Monument in Harlingen, Texas.

The rest of the story is that Harlon Block was not the only soldier from Weslaco in WWII. He and 12 of his high school classmates enlisted together. They were given an early graduation ceremony so that they couild join themilitray ranks. Harlon was not the only one to die during the war.

The Iwo Jima Memorial in Washington D.C. is not the original. To cast that bronze statue, there needed to be a "cast" made. The sculptor decided to donate the "original" to the Marine Military Academy in Harlingen, Texas. The MMA is a military school for young men under 18 years of age. On a saturday you see groups of boys dressed in Marine "green," at the mall or the movies.

Water Tower

     The water tower is a landmark. It is unique in that it is a concrete structure and does not look like any other in the Valley. The building of the water tower was begun in 1938 as one of the WPA projects. It was completed in 1941. In the Valley the tower also has a reputation connected to football. When the local team wins, the light on the tower are lit. When the radio announcer says, "There will be no lights on the tower tonight," I know our team lost.
    At the base of the tower is a community theater in the round. This was the original water reservoir before the tower was built.

Football

    What can I say about football in Texas? When I was in Washington, it was a shock for me to see "one-sided" football stadiums. There were no bleachers for the visiting team. I know that the area towns in Washington were smaller then those around here, but the smallest towns here have bleachers for the visitors.
In Texas, one travels to out of town games and support the team, whether it is a winning season or not. I remember going to a Prosser Mustang (WA) out-of-town game and seeing very few Prosser fans there. As small as that one-sided stadium was,  the bleachers were not full. Also there was no half-time band performance. This I considered the greatest sin.

 This is the recently renovated football stadium. I read that total capacity was around 15000, home and visitor sides. Weslaco now has two high schools and both schools use this stadium.

      

Although the giant billboard at the stadium features the football teams (both sides), one of the good things that the school does is to feature the honor graduates on the billboard at the end of the school year.

Weslaco High School

     The gym is the only remnants of the old high school. About four years ago, the building was gutted and converted into a missle school. This is the only building that I could identify from the past.

Junior High

The Junior High building, across from the high school, was also remodeled but the exterior was preserved. I was here for 7th and 8th grades.

TEXSUN

If you have ever eaten a grapefruit, especially Ruby Reds, or had grapefruit juice, you have probably had fruit processed by the Texsun company. Texsun was billed as the "largest grapefruit juice canning plant in the world." It was a major economic force in the 20' and 30's. There some great images on the company, processing, and Weslaco at the following website:
http://books.google.com/books?id=3EPvwdz_6k0C&pg=PA93&lpg=PA93&dq=texsun+in+weslaco+texas&source=bl&ots=RxDWbRRYDS&sig=BC2xsJoaQP7k43f0U0YkmBUnuMQ&hl=en&ei=aY6PTOjJKoKBlAfGhPy4DQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=6&ved=0CDEQ6AEwBQ#v=onepage&q=texsun%20in%20weslaco%20texas&f=false

The Texsun building exterior is still in Weslaco, but has been remodeled and is now part of the South Texas College's Mid-Valley Campus.

Wells of Weslaco
       This store has been in Weslaco as long as I can remember. However, I have never been inside. The sign has changed little. I and others always considered this store to be expensive, high class, and where Anglos shopped. Maybe I will walk in there, now that I am retired and report back to this site.

The Keno Cafe

 If you live in the Mid-Valley, you know that this is where you come to get a "quickie." Although the Keno's interior has seen changes, the exterior remains unchanged.

The "quickie" was a plate lunch - chicken fried steak, some salad, fries, and a dinner roll. It was something that was served quickly. Since there was little money for such luxuries as eating out, we would go to the Keno and order a roll and a glass of water.  

As I think of other things to show you about Weslaco, I will take some pictures and post them ASAP.

Joe V