Oblate Park
Mission, Hidalgo County, Texas
Marker Inscription
In 1916 the City of Mission entered into a 99-year lease agreement with the Missionary Society of Oblate Fathers for the purpose of creating a public park for the use and benefit of all its citizens. Named for this society of Catholic priests, which, six years earlier, had sold land for the townsite of Mission, Oblate Park has been the scene of many band concerts, Memorial Day celebrations, and Fourth of July festivities. As the center of an early major addition to Mission, it became the focus of social activity for the developing city. (1984)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
In 1916 the young city of Mission, deep in the Rio Grande Valley, secured a long-term lease to turn land into a public park, naming it for the Missionary Oblate Fathers—the Catholic society whose earlier land sale had made the townsite possible. For decades the grounds hummed with band concerts, Memorial Day observances, and Fourth of July celebrations. As the heart of an early residential addition, the park became the social anchor of a fast-growing border town.
Why it matters
Parks like this one show how new Southwestern towns built civic identity and shared public life almost as soon as their streets were laid out.
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Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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Laurel Hill Cemetery has served Mission, in the lower Rio Grande Valley, since 1913, when graves were relocated from the town's first, unsuitable burial ground. Among those interred are city founder John J. Conway, author and television personality Dr. Cleo Dawson, and the aviator and stuntman Floyd "Slats" Rodgers, along with pioneers and veterans of conflicts reaching back to the Civil War. Its false crypts, mausoleums, and statuary reflect the region's blended traditions.
La Lomita Chapel
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