Other Cities
The Cities Of . Com
Escape To The Rio Grande Valley in Texas
The Rio Grande Valley in Texas
Join Us
Join The Cities Of . Com




San Benito, Texas
San Benito Texas

San Benito is on U.S. Highway 77/83 five miles south of Harlingen and twenty miles north of Brownsville in Cameron County, at the approximate center of the county. The town is on the Concepción de Carricitos grant, awarded to Bartolomé and Eugenio Fernández in 1789. The portion of the grant on which San Benito is built was obtained in the mid nineteenth century by Judge Stephen Powers in return for legal services to the Fernández heirs.
In 1904 Col. Sam Robertson went into partnership with James Landrum and Benjamin Hicks, Powers's sons-in-law and administrators of his estate, to form what later became the San Benito Land and Water Company. In January 1907 the company subdivided town lots and began sales. Initially the town was called Bessie, in honor of the daughter of Benjamin Franklin Yoakum, financial backer of the St. Louis, Brownsville and Mexico Railway, which served the community.
(Rafael Moreno, an employee of Hicks, concocted the name San Benito. Moreno combined the given names of Robertson (Sam or "San") and Hicks (Benny), whom he called "Don Benito.")
A post office was established in 1907 under the name San Benito. The first meeting of the city council was held on July 27, 1911. Charter adopted a city manager form of government in 1920. In 1990 a mayor and four elected commissioners governed the city, with a city manager as administrative head.
During the border disturbances of 1915-16, San Benito was a base for troops of the Oklahoma, South Dakota, and Tennessee National Guard. Several fights with bandits occurred in the area, involving troops and Texas Rangers. There were numerous murders and lynchings. In 1916 the night train to Brownsville was blown up at Olmito, ten miles south of San Benito, and several persons were killed.
In its early years San Benito was a major shipper of citrus fruits and vegetables from the lower Rio Grande valley. A market was held under the arcade of the San Benito Bank and Trust Company, and agricultural festivals were popular. However, the produce industry began to diminish in the 1960s, and the last citrus-packing shed closed after the severe freeze of December 1983.
The later economy centered on agriculture and light industry. As of 1990 there were three cotton gins in San Benito, one of which was combined with a large grain-storage facility. The town had a 144-acre industrial park that included such industries as electronics, plastic design and manufacture, soft drink distribution, meat packing, and clothing manufacture. The San Benito Consolidated Independent School District was the largest employer in the city; second was the Central Power and Light Company, which maintained the La Palma Power Station. A lessee operates the San Benito Municipal Airport, a general aviation facility governed by an advisory board. A municipally owned utility corporation governed by an autonomous board responsible to the city commission supplies water. Dolly Vinsant Memorial Hospital, a community-owned hospital built by public subscription in 1949, is named for Lt. Wilma R. (Dolly) Vinsant Shea, army flight nurse, who was killed in action over Germany in May 1945. A semiweekly newspaper, the San Benito News, has been published under its present name and ownership since 1946. It was originally established as the San Benito Light in 1911. In addition to schools run by the San Benito Consolidated Independent School District, the South Texas Independent School District, a special purpose district, maintains a separate high school. A county fair and livestock show is held in San Benito each February on fairgrounds owned jointly by the stock Show Corporation and the city. In 1990 San Benito had 141 businesses and a population of 20,125, making it the third largest city in the county.

BACK




Escape to Austin Texas    Escape to Corpus Christi Texas    Escape to Dallas Texas  
Escape to El Paso Texas    Escape to Fort Worth Texas    Escape to Galveston Texas  
Escape to Houston Texas    Escape to Laredo Texas    Escape to San Antonio Texas  
Escape to The Rio Grande Valley Texas      Escape To Waco Texas  

Escape To Belize    Escape To Carlsbad NM    Escape To Chattanooga TN    Escape To Hawaii   
Escape To Memphis TN    Escape To Texas    Escape To Fairmont WV   





Join The Cities Of . Com

Today's Good News




More Cities

Support Our Troops