San Juan De Carricitos Land Grant
Raymondville, Willacy County, Texas
Marker Inscription
The largest land grant in South Texas, the San Juan de Carrictios lands were awarded to Don Jose Narciso Cavazos in 1792 by the King of Spain. Comprising over one-half million acres, the grant included virtually all of present Williacy County, including the sites of the towns of Sebastian, Lyford, Raymondville, Lasara, San Perlita, and Port Mansfield. In 1793 Cavazos took formal possession of the land grant seven miles north of this site. Most of the grant was later sold by Cavazos' heirs, although some descendants still live within its boundaries. (1988)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
In 1792 the Spanish crown awarded Don Jose Narciso Cavazos the San Juan de Carricitos grant, more than half a million acres and the largest land grant in South Texas. Cavazos formally took possession the following year, and the grant eventually encompassed nearly all of present-day Willacy County. Though his heirs sold most of the land, some descendants still live within its old boundaries.
Why it matters
The grant is a foundation stone of South Texas land tenure, showing how Spanish colonial claims shaped the region's map and families long before it became part of the United States.
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Related people
- · Jose Narciso Cavazos
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Edward Burleson Raymond
Raymondville, TX
Born in an Austin log house to a Republic of Texas newspaperman, E. B. Raymond rode into South Texas in 1870 and spent decades managing the sprawling King-Kenedy ranching empire. Building his own ranch and civic career, he helped bring the railroad through by deeding right-of-way and donating a station site, which the railway named in his honor. He then founded a town company, bank, telephone exchange, and cotton gin, and Raymondville later became the seat of Willacy County.
Willacy County
Raymondville, TX
Carved from Cameron and Hidalgo counties in 1911 and reorganized a decade later, Willacy County honors John G. Willacy, a state legislator and tax commissioner. Its seat shifted from Sarita to Raymondville as the county settled into its modern shape in the 1920s.
Willacy County Courthouse
Raymondville, TX
After Willacy County was reorganized in 1921 with Raymondville as its seat, officials held early meetings in a bank building and even borrowed a jail cage from the King Ranch. They soon commissioned architect Henry T. Phelps — who had designed the earlier courthouse in remote Sarita — to build a proper three-story courthouse and jail, completed in 1923. The understated brick building became the focus of civic pride and community life in the South Texas county.
Lyford
Lyford, TX
This corner of the Willacy County brushland was once King Ranch pasture nicknamed "Como se Llama" before Rock Island Railroad executives developed the townsite in 1907, naming it for Illinois attorney William H. Lyford. Midwestern settlers arrived by train and camped in tents until homes could be built, drawing water from an artesian well and worshiping and schooling in "Pioneer Hall." Soldiers and Texas Rangers guarded the young town through the border bandit raids of 1913-15.