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LA FERIA, TEXAS
Cameron County, Texas
Gulf Coast
26°9'30"N 97°49'30"W (26.158253, -97.824973)
Hwy 83 and FM 506
24 Miles NW of Brownsville
the county seat
ZIP code 78559
Area code 956
Population: 7,230 Est. (2019)
7,302 (2010) 6,115 (2000) 4,360 (1990)
Book Hotel Here › La
Feria Hotels |
Carrot Harvest
in Rio Grande Valley
Postcard
courtesy www.rootsweb.com/ %7Etxpstcrd/ |
History
in a Pecan Shell
The area dates to 1777 when the Spanish crown deeded the land to Rosa
María Hinojosa de Ballí. The Ballí family kept their headquarters
for their farms and ranches here through the mid-1800s. It remained
a ranching center well
into the twentieth century.
A local land developer named G. J. Schoenberg, developed the town
of La Feria in 1909. That same year a post office was granted under
the name - which means "the fair" in Spanish. When the St. Louis,
Brownsville and Mexico Railway was building through the county in
1911, they established a town of their own named Bixby and erected
a depot. Bixby was a threat to La Feria and so, in 1912, the city
fathers of La Feria physically moved the Bixby depot to La Feria.
By 1915 La Feria's population was around 200, and was estimated to
be between 200-800 through the 1920s. La Feria incorporated in 1933.
The population had increased to 2,600 by 1948 and by the 1960s it
was still only 3,000. The Rosita Longoria house (c.1909) now serves
as the La Feria Museum and the town celebrates an annual fair every
year.
La Feria today is part of the part of the Brownsville–Harlingen–Raymondville,
the Matamoros–Brownsville,
and the McAllen–Edinburg–Mission
metropolitan areas. |
| Texas
Escapes, in its purpose to preserve historic, endangered and vanishing
Texas, asks that anyone wishing to share their local history, stories,
landmarks and recent or vintage photos, please contact
us. |
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