Calallen
Corpus Christi, Nueces County, Texas
Marker Inscription
The rural Nueces County settlement of Calallen was established by the Calvin Townsite Company on August 18, 1910. The president of the firm was the prominent local cattlemen Calvin J. Allen (1859-1922), for whom the town was named. The area's abundant water supply and the settlement's location on the St. Louis, Brownsville and Mexico Railline resulted in Calallen's development as an important agricultural center of the region. Calallen's greatest period of growth occurred from the 1920's to the 1940's. During that time it was the site of a hotel, funeral home, lumberyard, post office, doctor's office, bank, churches, a variety of stores and a school district, formed in 1914. Major employers here included a Corpus Christi water plant and the vegetable packing firm of C.E. Coleman. Residents of the community included some of the prominent cattlemen and business leaders of south Texas. Calallen's decline began as new roads resulted in dramatic growth for Corpus Christi. Although the Calallen school remained in operation, the rural town was annexed by Corpus Christi in 1970. Today the area serves as a reminder of the early residents who were vital to the growth of Nueces County. (1982)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Calallen was platted in 1910 by the Calvin Townsite Company and named for cattleman Calvin J. Allen, rising on the St. Louis, Brownsville and Mexico rail line where plentiful water made it a farming hub for Nueces County. Between the 1920s and 1940s it supported a hotel, bank, funeral home, packing firm, and school district, drawing prominent South Texas cattlemen and merchants. New roads then funneled growth toward Corpus Christi, which annexed the town in 1970.
Why it matters
Calallen's rise and absorption capture how railroads built rural South Texas towns and how the automobile age later dissolved them into the cities they once fed.
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Related people
- · Calvin J. Allen
- · C.E. Coleman
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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