In 1745, Jose
de Escandon ordered Captain Jose Antonio Cantu to establish the town of Reynosa
at its present site, which at that time was under the jurisdiction of Anzalduas.
Written records substantiate that the side known as La Lomita was granted to
Captain Cantu of Reynosa by a Spanish grant in 1767. The land was eventually
sold to M. Guillermo Rene Guyard, who at his death in 1874 willed the land to
the Missionary Oblates of Mary. In 1906 the oblate Fathers sold the land on
which the city on Mission and much of its nearby community now stand to John
J. Conway and J.W. Hoit, who established Rancho La Lomita Land Company. Most
of the area's activities were centered on La Lomita.
In 1908 the Missouri Pacific established a railway station near the center of
the new community, four miles north of the mission. That railroad stop has grown
into the thriving city of Mission. It was in the area that the first citrus
was planted in the Rio Grande Valley. The historic La Lomita Mission still stands
and is visited regularly each year by tourists and residents, and the multi-million
dollar citrus industry is celebrated annually with the gala Texas Citrus Fiesta,
attracting participants from both sides of the Rio Grande.
Current population: 45,408
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