Site of Monte Christo
Alton, Hidalgo County, Texas
Marker Inscription
(2.5 mi. North) One of the towns that sprang up in the Rio Grande Valley in the early 20th century, Monte Christo was platted in 1909 by the Melado Land Co. Among the first settlers were Otto Woods (1882-1956), who managed the townsite, and Virgil Lott (1878-1960), who published a newspaper called "The Hustler". At its height, Monte Christo had a bank, school, railroad station, cotton gin, two hotels, and a population of 1500. Residents began to move away during the bandit raids of 1914-1916. Others left when the water supply proved inadequate. By 1934 Monte Christo was a ghost town. (1985)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Monte Christo was one of the boom towns that blossomed across the Rio Grande Valley in the early twentieth century, platted in 1909 by the Melado Land Company. At its peak it boasted a bank, school, railroad station, cotton gin, two hotels, and some 1,500 residents, with Otto Woods managing the townsite and Virgil Lott publishing a newspaper aptly named 'The Hustler.' Border violence during the 1914–1916 raids drove people out, an inadequate water supply drove more, and by 1934 the town stood empty.
Why it matters
Its brief rise and swift collapse map the promise and peril of Valley land-boom promotion — and the border unrest that could unmake a community overnight.
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Related people
- · Otto Woods
- · Virgil Lott
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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