City of Harlingen
Harlingen, Cameron County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Platted 1904; incorporated 1910. Named for town in Holland, by founder Lon C. Hill, Sr. (1862-1935), promoter of railroad and early business enterprises. Here were organized the first irrigation district and first navigation district in Rio Grande Valley. Center for finance, wholesale business, commerce and medical services. Site of Harlingen State Tuberculosis Hospital, Rio Grande State Center for Mental Health and Mental Retardation, Valley Baptist Hospital. Home of Marine Military Academy, "Confederate Air Force" Museum and the Lower Valley Historical Museum. (1969)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Platted in 1904 and incorporated in 1910, Harlingen was named for a Dutch town by founder Lon C. Hill, a railroad and business promoter who saw the Rio Grande Valley's future in irrigated farmland. The town organized the Valley's first irrigation and navigation districts and grew into a hub of finance, wholesale trade, and medical care. It became home to state hospitals, the Marine Military Academy, and museums of regional and aviation history.
Why it matters
Harlingen's rise embodies the early-1900s transformation of the Rio Grande Valley, when railroads and irrigation turned South Texas brushland into one of the nation's great agricultural regions.
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Related people
- · Lon C. Hill, Sr.
Themes & tags
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