Although travelers had passed through and explored South Texas,
it wasn't until the 1740's that established settlement began to dot the landscape,
mostly on the south side of the Rio Grande. It wasn't until the early 1850's,
when John McAllen arrived in the Rio Grande Valley, did development begin to
come together where McAllen is today. John McAllen and others established a
town site in 1904 known then as West McAllen and the St. Louis, Brownsville
and Mexico Railroad reached the town site a year later. In 1907, other developers
started a town on their own land tract and named it East McAllen. The two groups
joined forces soon thereafter and by 1910 several businesses, churches, residences
and a newspaper had been built. McAllen had a population of 150 in 1910. The
next year the City of McAllen was incorporated, and by 1920 the city had grown
to over 5,300 residents. McAllen grew steadily over the next several decades
and the U.S. Census reported in 1960 that McAllen had 32,728 residents. In the
1960's, the city did not add many residents, but did build a new city hall,
double the size of its library and established a museum and had already added
a civic center and airport the previous decade. The city exploded with growth
in the 1970's and by 1980 almost doubled in population to 66,281 and continued
to grow steadily. La Plaza Mall opened its doors in 1976 Over the last three
decades, McAllen has transformed into the Valley's business, commerce and government
leader. The city has become home to scores of national businesses and the center
of most state and federal government operations in the Valley. In 1993, McAllen-Miller
International Airport was completed and first-ever students registered at the
newly created South Texas Community College. A new city hall building was dedicated
in 1995.
The old Southern Pacific Railroad Depot is one of the more graceful buildings
in McAllen. It opened for service in August 1927, and served as a passenger
terminal until 1952. From 1953-1985 it was occupied by a number of public agencies,
including the police department, jail and municipal court. It was restored by
a group of attorneys who use it for their law office. This building has a Texas
Historical Commission Marker.
Population: 106,414
Select your area of interest using the
links below: