McAllen, The Beginning

McAllen, The Beginning. . The coming of irrigation to dusty South Texas in 1890 made the Valley green and agriculture productive. In 1903, the St. Louis, Brownsville Railway Company was established. The new railroad went from Corpus Christi to Brownsville with a western extension from Harlingen to near Hidalgo., Grading crews came through John McAllen's Santa Anita Ranch with rail building workers reaching Mile Thirty-six August 20, 1904. Railroad President Uriah Lott promised John McAllen a train depot; thus, the new McAllen Station intersected with a dirt road built by John Closner to provide a route to the county seat in Hidalgo. This road was called South Depot Road (23rd Street)., With 40 thousand dollars, John McAllen, son James B. McAllen, stepson John J. Young, Harlingen attorney Lon C. Hill, and Uriah Lott formed the McAllen Townsite Company in December 1904. No Streets were laid out and little effort was made to make the town prosper., The man who provided the foundation for McAllen was William Briggs of Lake Charles, La. In 1904, Briggs, O.E. Jones and John Closner invested $5,000 to purchase 8,000 acres adjoining the eastern border of John McAllen's property. They named the new town East McAllen. The original town site became West McAllen., Opportunity came for East McAllen when the main irrigation canal was built. Developments prospered and Briggs brought in architect Rowland E. Horn, who laid out the town site. This building boom led East McAllen to a population of over 300. The West McAllen town site was dissolved and the towns became one community., On February 20, 1911, McAllen incorporated. Frank Crow was the first Mayor, Oliver Percy Archer and H.L. Givens were City Commissioners. These town fathers planted Sable and Washington palms and designated McAllen as the "City of Palms".