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Left - Flora
near Sarita
Right - Sarita water tower and an early building
TE Photos
October 2003
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History in
a Pecan Shell
Sarita was once
part of the Kenedy Ranch and John G. Kenedy named the
town after his daughter Sarita Kenedy East when it was established
in 1904 as a center for the ranch and the Kenedy Pasture Company.
Sarita became a stop on the St. Louis, Brownsville and Mexico Railroad.
The town moved one mile east in 1905, when the railroad was resurveyed
and tracks had to be relaid. Midwestern land companies promoted Sarita
to northerners and ran excursion trains into the area for prospective
buyers. Those that were smitten by the landscape could buy lots right
then and there from the Kenedy Town and Improvement Company.
Sarita was granted a post office (in the company store) in 1904 and
three years later the town had a depot, a one-room school and a cotton
gin. The railroad maintained a section house and water tank for the
trains.
Many settlers worked for the Kenedy Ranch, while others purchased
or leased pasture from the Kenedy Pasture Company to raise
cotton. The Pfau store, one of two in Sarita at the time, was bought
by John G. Kenedy and served as a courthouse until it burned.
Sarita had originally been in Cameron
County and became the county seat of the newly formed Willacy
County in 1911.Then in 1921 when Kenedy
County was formed, it served as county seat again.
A hurricane struck the coast in 1916 and many residents abandoned
their farms. The land then reverted back to the Kenedy Pasture
Company.
The road from the north ended abruptly (and rudely according to other
sources) at Sarita and it wasn't until the 40s that highway
77 was completed to Brownsville.
Sarita Kenedy East died in 1961. |
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Sarita Kenedy East
Photo Courtesy Kenedy Ranch Museum |
Sarita, Texas
Landmarks & Attractions
Year-round birding.
South Texas wildflowers viewing in spring.
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The Kenedy Pasture
Company, now the Kenedy Ranch Museum
Photo courtesy Gerald
Massey, October 2010 |
Kenedy Ranch
Museum of South Texas
200 E. La Parra
Ave.
361/294-5751
www.kenedyranchmuseum.org |
Kenedy Ranch
Museum of South Texas
Photo courtesy Gerald
Massey, October 2010 |
Speed trap ahead
TE Photos October 2003 |
Kenedy
County 1940s map showing Sarita
From Texas state map #4335
Courtesy
Texas General Land Office |
| 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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