Harlingen Heritage Trail

• Overview

• Sites & Photos

• Key Dates

• Map

Harlingen Heritage Trail - Overview

Standing in downtown Harlingen today, the 20th century stretches out before you.

Here the community began to take shape about 100 years ago. Anglo settlers came by wagon, rail, and high-wheeled stagecoach to join Hispanic pioneers in a landscape thick with mesquite, coyotes, and cactus. In 1902, land developer Lon C. Hill, a lawyer from Beeville, Texas, bought 11,000 acres of fertile Rio Grande delta lands from the King Ranch and the Cameron County Court. He began clearing land and digging irrigation canals to entice farmers from the Midwest to move to the Rio Grande Valley.

In the early days, railroad workers called the rugged stop between Corpus Christi and Brownsville "Rattlesnake Junction." By 1904 there were enough residents to warrant a post office. As the irrigation canals were similar to Holland's waterways, the Dutch name "Harlingen" was chosen.

The town center was Van Buren and Hill (now First) Streets, where the railroad built a two-story hotel with two baths in 1906. Other early buildings near the tracks included two general stores, hardware and drug stores, a barbershop, four saloons, a blacksmith shop, and a Texas Rangers headquarters. Crowds of Rangers, customs officers, and residents gathered at pistol ranges near the depot, giving rise to yet another nickname, "Six Shooter Junction."

As time went on, the town became a city. Harlingen's strategic location in the Valley helped it grow into a thriving military center and a trade and transportation hub.

Through good times and bad, prosperity and turmoil, the city has drawn on its strong sense of community to meet the challenges of ever-changing times.

Whether you're a newcomer or a native, we invite you to tour Harlingen today and discover its many historic and contemporary charms. Use this guide to gain insight into the hopes and dreams, events and personalities that shaped the city. Take a closer look at some remarkable old buildings that have been restored to new life as homes and offices, shops, banks, and cafes. Appreciate the city's unique blending of Mexican and south Texas cultures and understand why our rich history has become a source of pride and joy.

Walking Tour: Downtown Business District

Free parking is available on Jackson Street and in the City Lot on Monroe between 1st and 2nd.
 

1. Rialto Theatre 101 W. Jackson First Street was still a dirt road when the Rialto, Harlingen's first movie theatre, opened in 1920. Movies were considered sinful and churches discouraged attendance. The theatre ceased operations in 1993; it is renovated and used for special events.
2. Site of Santos Lozano Building/Pioneer’s Building 119-123 W. Jackson S. Lozano and Son, General Mercantile, the first store on Jackson Street, opened here in early 1906. In 1915, the small frame store was replaced by this brick building. It had a post office downstairs and space upstairs for bilingual classes, dances, and special events. The building was destroyed by fire in July 2004.
3. First National Bank Building/Feder’s Fabrics 124 W. Jackson In 1937, when the First National Bank of Harlingen moved into this 1920s building, bank deposits were over a million dollars. The bank was one of few that survived the Depression. It remained in this location until 1951.
4. Baxter Building/Blascka Tower 106 S. A Street The nine-story Baxter office building has been the tallest building in Harlingen since its erection in 1927. It boasted the city’s first elevator and quickly became the premiere office address for doctors, lawyers, and other professionals. For years, KRGV, the principal radio station between San Antonio and Mexico City, broadcasted from a spacious studio on the top floor.
5. Planters State Bank Building 209 W. Jackson Built in 1917 to be the new home of Planters State Bank, this building was home of Valley State Bank from 1924 to 1927. For the next 38 years it housed offices of the Cameron County Irrigation District. In 1969 the Junior League purchased the building and restored it. The Harlingen Downtown Development office is on the lower level.
6. Surplus Building 306 W. Jackson This 1920s building still has a pressed metal ceiling, a relic from its earliest days as a haberdashery. Later it was a Pepsi-Cola bottling plant with manager's apartment upstairs. It has been a army surplus store since 1945.
7. Heritage Park Along the tracks between Jackson and Van Buren The Early Days is the first of several murals that will surround a Heritage Park being created by the city on land west of the railroad tracks. The 80’ mural, painted by Jermain Steed in 2001, depicts aspects of Harlingen’s founding and early years.
8. Villarreal Grocery/Jorge's Shoe Shop 343 W. Van Buren Julian Villarreal, descendent of a Spanish land grant family, built a frame store on this site in the early days of Harlingen. In 1936, the frame store was replaced by this Spanish colonial style building. Julian’s widow, Emma, ran a grocery store and meat market here for many years. The building still is owned by the Villarreals.
9. La Placita Diaz/Gutierrez Park Between Harrison, Van Buren, D and E Harlingen is one of many Texas towns that incorporated plazas from the Hispanic tradition into its layout. Lon C. Hill marked Plaza Porfirio Diaz on his 1911 plat of the city, in honor of the Mexican ruler. The plaza was renamed Gutierrez Park in 1980, in memory of Lt. George Gutierrez, Jr., who died in Vietnam. The gazebo dates to 1984 and is modeled after public bandstands in Mexico and Spain.
10. Grande Theatre 507 W. Harrison The Grande opened in 1941, amidst the Golden Age of Hollywood and Mexican cinema. It joined the Rialto, Strand, and Arcadia as the fourth movie house in Harlingen, all of which were owned and operated by Interstate Theatres. The theatre closed in 1989. A mural on the east side of the building depicts the parable of the Good Samaritan. It was painted by Carlos Ruiz of Santa Maria, Texas, in 1999.
11. Immaculate Heart of Mary Church 412 S. C Street Harlingen was incorporated in 1910 with a population of less than 1,000. The same year, a 50 x 25 foot chapel was dedicated to the “Sacred Heart of Mary Immaculate.” Granted parish status in 1927, Immaculate was the only Catholic Church in Harlingen until 1940; the present building dates to 1948. The church bells are dedicated to Maria Luisa Vela, who died while selling tamales to raise money for the new sanctuary.
12. RO-CA Bail Bonds 308 S. C Street Roque Herrera built a hotel and restaurant here in 1928 but lost possession due to cost overruns. Romulo Castillo bought the structure in 1942. He operated Romeo’s Café on this corner for many years before starting his bail bond business.
13. El Parian Grocery/Flores Cleaners 323 W. Harrison In 1928 a Mexican army officer-in-exile designed and built this two-story brick building for his mother-in-law, Tomasa Villarreal Garza. Besides the grocery up front and Cortez Cleaners in the rear, there was a rooming house upstairs. Mrs. Garza, descendant of a land grant family, lost the building during the Depression. It later housed an auto parts store and became home to Flores Cleaners in the mid-1990s.
14. Knapp Chevrolet/ White Cleaners 221 W. Harrison Built in the late 1920s for the Hollingsworth Motor Company, Harlingen's first Ford dealership, this building subsequently was the showroom of Knapp Chevrolet. Various other businesses have operated here since, including the Holsum Baking Company and Bebrick Paint Company. Despite the changes its beautiful Art Deco styling remains intact.
15. Missouri Pacific Freight Station 115 W. Harrison Harlingen developed at the crossroads of major national rail lines. At one time, the city was home to division offices of both Southern Pacific and Missouri Pacific. Missouri Pacific maintained shops and freight terminals such as this one, which was built in the late 1920s.
16. First United Methodist Church 321 E. Harrison When Lon C. Hill laid out his townsite of 543 acres, he donated several corner lots for church sites. The First United Methodist Church, founded in 1910 with 31 members, selected the north corner of Harrison and Van Arsdale Street (now 4th Street). The original building leaked so badly that choir members put their feet up on chair rungs. It was razed in 1925 and replaced by the present sanctuary. A marker at the southeast corner describes the “chaining tree” that preceded the City Jail.
17. The Hill Home 421 E. Harrison City founder Lon C. Hill built this house in 1917 after Mexican bandits burned the sugar mill on his plantation (now Fair Park) and Texas Rangers advised the family to move into town. The foundation is of huge timbers salvaged from the Hill Sugar Mill. With a $500 bounty on the heads of Hill’s eldest son and his bodyguard, the home was like a fortress. The family kept black drapes over the windows and slept with guns and black robes at the foot of each bed, ready to evacuate. Hill died here on May 5, 1935; the house remains in the Hill family.
18. First Baptist Church 501 E. Van Buren In 1909 ten Christians led by two Baptist ministers met under a tree and organized themselves into the First Baptist Church. In the early days the congregation met in “borrowed” buildings and baptismal services were conducted in the Arroyo Colorado. The present church dates from 1927 and the pipe organ from 1937.
19. Old Sam Houston School/Matz Building 515 E. Jackson Harlingen’s “Main School” was built in 1911-12 of bricks made in Lon C. Hill’s kilns. Prior to this, students attended classes in churches and other buildings. Tube-like wooden fire escapes stretching down to the playground served as slides for neighborhood kids on weekends. Officially renamed the Sam Houston School in 1936, it has been an office building since 1952.
20. First Presbyterian Church 402 E. Jackson The First Presbyterian Church was organized in 1910, with 17 charter members. The city donated land for the church. The original structure, badly damaged by the 1933 hurricane, was replaced by the present one in 1940.
21. Old Post Office/Coastal Banc 221 E. Van Buren This Neoclassical structure was built in 1932 and served for 60 years as Harlingen’s main post office. The spectacular 38' x 11' mural inside portrays the Valley’s agricultural and industrial development. Created in 1951 by Harlingen artist Normah Knight for the First National Bank, the mural was donated to the U.S. Post Office in 1965 and moved to this building. A bank bought the premises in 1993. Photos of Harlingen in the 1940s and 1950s are displayed in the hallway.
22. Day's Drug Store/Frank’s Emporium 123 E. Jackson The threshold still says Day’s, after the drug store that moved into this building in 1933. Day’s was the heart of the downtown business district for more than 50 years. The soda fountain was a popular meeting spot and hangout for Harlingen and San Benito teens. A hotel occupied the second and third floors during the 1940s and 1950s. The mural of Harlingen landmarks on the east wall was completed in 1994, as part of the downtown revitalization.

Walking Tour: Silk Stocking Row
Homes on Taylor Street reflect
Harlingen’s early prosperity.
 

23. The Joyner Home 613 E. Taylor This handsome, Italian-style villa was built in 1925-26 for Oscar Nathan Joyner, who came to the Valley as an agent for the Texas Company (later Texaco). It was modeled on Boca Raton homes designed by Addison Mizner, a famous architect of the day. Steel casement windows were fitted with windshield glass made by the Ford Motor Company, the thickest glass available. The house remained in the Joyner family until the early 1980s. It has been completely restored.
24. The Pink House 614 E. Taylor This southern colonial structure with its steeply pitched roof was built in 1921. It was the first house on Taylor Street. The builder was Lloyd W. Hoskins who, together with Miller Harwood, developed the area from cotton fields into a prestigious residential neighborhood. The Hornaday family has owned the house since 1926. A Hornaday daughter married the famous magician, Harry Blackstone, Jr.
25. The Tichenor Home 618 E. Taylor Builder/developer Lloyd Hoskins built this Georgian-style home in 1929 and lived there with his wife and five children. Many Taylor Street families gathered in the attic of this home during the 1933 hurricane. The story lingers on of neighbors slinging ropes around the beams and pulling together to hold the roof on, a wonderful metaphor of how they pulled together as a community to survive the devastation. In the 1940s, the home sold to Mr. and Mrs. McHenry Tichenor, who owned the Harlingen, Brownsville, and McAllen newspapers and, later, the KGBT radio and TV stations. Several other families have lived here since.
26. The Berly Home 701 E. Taylor This three-story brick home was built in 1927 for Mr. and Mrs. Bob Hollingsworth, who owned the city’ first Ford dealership. It boasted Harlingen's first private swimming pool. Mr. and Mrs. Sid Berly, a prominent Harlingen farming family, bought the home in 1935. It remains in the Berly family. Twice Mrs. Berly engaged interior designer and neighbor Ruth Townsend (718 E Taylor) to decorate the home.
27. The Boggus Home 702 E. Taylor This southern colonial cost $9000 when it was built in 1939 for Mr. And Mrs. Lewis Boggus, who bought the Ford dealership from their neighbors, the Hollingsworths. Although the dealership is still in the Boggus family, they sold the home in the late 1940s. It has changed hands several times since.
28. The HEB Home 718 E. Taylor This Palladian-style Italian villa was built in 1930 by Ruth and John Townsend. In the late 1930s, Howard E. Butt, founder of the H.E.B. grocery chain, bought the house and added tennis courts on the west side, which became the site of regular social gatherings. Although the blue tile roof is gone, many of the home’s original features are intact, including Austrian glass chandeliers, ornate plaster moldings, a stained glass window, and parquet and oak floors.
29. The Morris Home 917 E. Taylor This home was built in 1930 by produce buyer John Morris and his wife, Annie. It was modeled after Spanish style homes they had seen on a trip to California, and features solid, hand-hewn wood beams in the living room. According to her daughter, Mrs. Morris wielded a hatchet to show the workmen how to achieve the rugged effect she desired. The house remained in the Morris family until 1968.

Other Points of Interest
 

30. North Ward/Austin Elementary School i 700 E. Austin In 1928, with trainloads of settlers arriving to farm the irrigated delta, Harlingen needed new schools to accommodate the surge of new students. A $400,000 bond issue for construction, maintenance, and site acquisition for three schools was voted on and passed by a narrow margin. The architectural motifs sculpted into the doorways and arches were typical of the period.
31. South Ward/Bowie Elementary School 306 W. Lincoln Snakes sculpted into a colorful cast-concrete frieze by Luis Lopez Sanchez gave this 1928 school its nickname, La Escuela de las Viboras (the school of snakes.) Blending Mexican motifs such as Toltec feathered headdresses, Aztec heads, and Quetzlcoatl, Mexico's fabled feathered serpent, the artist created a unique facade reflecting ancient beliefs that snakes symbolized wisdom and knowledge.
32. Harlingen High School/Vernon Middle School 125 S. 13th Street The front door of this 1929 Spanish revival building resembles the East Wing of the White House for a good reason. They shared an architect, Roscoe DeWitt. Named after Julia Vernon, a popular English teacher and librarian, the building became Vernon Junior High in 1958.
33. Hygeia Dairy Bar 720 S. F Street In 1927, Hygeia Milk Products Company began production and delivery of pasteurized, bottled milk from their original plant at 215 North A Street. At that time, plant capacity was 60 gallons per day. The delivery fleet was one horse-drawn wagon. Operations moved to a small building on this site in 1936. In 1947 the present building was completed.
34. Harlingen Cemetery 1501 S. F Street The cemetery was legally established in 1912, though burials had taken place here since 1909. For years salt cedars divided the cemetery into sections for babies, blacks, Hispanics, and Anglos. Though no longer segregated, tombstone designs and grave decorations still reflect diverse cultural traditions. The city’s first postmaster, a Cameron County Deputy Sheriff, and a Texas Ranger are among the pioneers buried here.
35. Harlingen Municipal Auditorium 1204 Fair Park Blvd. From Lily Pons, Eleanor Roosevelt, and the Kingston Trio to Jose Iturbi and Tish Hinojosa, the auditorium has hosted famous musicians, speakers, circuses and plays since its opening in 1928. For many years it also served as a focal point of the annual Valley Mid-Winter Fair, which began in the 1920s and by 1950 drew more than 90,000 to Harlingen. Renovated and expanded in 1993, the building remains a venue for concerts and dramatic performances. It also serves as headquarters for the city’s signature events, RioFest and the Rio Grande Valley Birding Festival.
36. Marine Military Academy 320 Iwo Jima Blvd. The Harlingen Army Air Field, established in 1941, followed by Harlingen A.F.B., occupied this site until 1962. The gunnery school was key to the growth of the city in the mid-century and the Air Force a major employer; its closing devastated the local economy. Marine Military Academy, the only prep school based on Marine Corps traditions, was founded in 1965. Few old buildings remain, but the original model of the Iwo Jima Memorial is a major attraction.
37. Rio Grande Valley Museum Boxwood at Raintree Several historic Harlingen buildings have been relocated to this site, including the frame, late Victorian cottage built in 1904-5 by city founder Lon C. Hill. Other buildings include the city’s first hospital, a 1925 structure, and the Paso Real Stagecoach Inn, which was constructed during the Civil War. The Paso Real was built on the banks of the Arroyo Colorado, where a trading post had been established. Early residents picked up their mail and groceries at the Paso Real until 1904, when the Harlingen post office opened.
38. Holsum Bakery/Park Place 1500 W. Harrison Touted as “America’s Finest and Most Beautiful Bakery” when it opened in 1945, the Holsum Baking Company thrived in this location for decades. Many residents have fond memories of school tours that began in the lobby, where The Story of Bread mural by Harlingen artist Normah Knight was a dominant feature. At the end, each child received a loaf of freshly baked bread. The bakery was purchased by Buttercrust in 1975; operations ceased in 1996. The building is being renovated for stores, restaurants, and offices.

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