Weslaco

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Weslaco
Old train station in Weslaco
Old train station in Weslaco
Location in Texas
Location in Texas
Basic data
Foundation : 1919
State : United States
State : Texas
County : Hidalgo County
Coordinates : 26 ° 10 ′  N , 97 ° 59 ′  W Coordinates: 26 ° 10 ′  N , 97 ° 59 ′  W
Time zone : Central ( UTC − 6 / −5 )
Residents : 35,670 (as of 2010)
Population density : 1,084.2 inhabitants per km 2
Area : 33.0 km 2  (approx. 13 mi 2 ) of
which 32.9 km 2  (approx. 13 mi 2 ) are land
Height : 24 m
Postcodes : 78596, 78599
Area code : +1 956
FIPS : 48-77272
GNIS ID : 1349656
Website : www.weslacotx.gov
Mayor : David Suarez

Weslaco is a city in Hidalgo County in the US state of Texas . The city name is derived from the WE Stewart Land Company - a land development company that bought large parts of the city in 1917. Weslaco is located in south Texas near the border with Mexico . In 2016, the city's population was just under 40,000. It ranks sixth within Hidalgo County - after McAllen , Mission , the administrative center of Edinburgh , Pharr and the uncorporated community of Donna.

description

growth of population
Census Residents ± in%
1930 4879 -
1940 6883 41.1%
1950 7514 9.2%
1960 15,649 108.3%
1970 15,313 -2.1%
1980 19,331 26.2%
1990 22,739 17.6%
2000 26,935 18.5%
2010 35,670 32.4%

Geographically, Weslaco is in the hinterland of the Gulf Coast - close to the alluvial land in the lower Rio Grande Valley, which is favorable for arable farming . The city is part of a series of towns and cities that were built along US Highway 83 parallel to the Rio Grande and stretch from Mission in the west to Brownsville regional center in Cameron County to the east . Locally, Weslaco is in the southeast corner of Hidalgo County. US Highway 83 , which runs through the city and runs north of the city center, is the most important road. The climate in the region is subtropical and subhumid . The temperature data for the neighboring town of McAllen ranging from an average of 8 ° C in January to 35 ° C in July. The average annual temperature is 23 ° C. The average rainfall is 23 centimeters per month. The main rainy months are May and September. The population density in the city center corresponds to comparable city centers with 4,900 to 6,100 inhabitants per square mile. It drops sharply towards the surrounding outskirts. The population density there is between 1,300 and 2,500 inhabitants per square mile. In the western and eastern outer zones it is again considerably lower.

The first settlement of Europeans in today's urban area took place in the course of the land allocations which the New Spanish authorities granted in the second half of the 18th century for the areas north of the lower Rio Grande. One of the first settlers was the rancher Juan José Ynojosa de Ballí. Ballí and his descendants managed their goods there until 1852. In 1904 the region was connected to the rail network of the St. Louis, Brownsville and Mexico Railway . In the course of the unrest on the Mexican border due to the Mexican Revolution , the US government stationed troops along the Rio Grande in 1916 and established a control base between Mercedes and today's Weslaco.

Land ownership changed rapidly between 1910 and 1920. In 1913 two land sales companies secured a large part of the former Llano Grande land patent and began selling land for settlement. In December 1917, the WE Stewart Land Company bought an area of ​​around 121 square kilometers and sold this area to several interested parties. The founding of the city coincided with the establishment of the Llano Grande military base - a training camp that served to train American recruits for deployment in the First World War . Attracted by the prospect of land and the emerging infrastructure, Anglo-American new settlers increasingly moved to Weslaco. The postal service was carried out from the neighboring city of Mercedes until 1920. In 1920 the city got its own post office, a chamber of commerce , a bank , a building for the municipal administration and a connection to the electrical power supply . In 1921 the Weslaco Independent School District was founded. In addition, the Texas Rangers maintained their own station in town.

Ethnically, there was a split into different urban areas at an early stage. A municipal ordinance from 1921 assigned the urban areas north of the railway line to Hispanic company owners and residents, while those south of it were Anglo-Saxon. As a result, the cityscape developed into two different cities: "El pueblo americano", as the Anglo side of the city was called, consisted of well-built terraced houses , had cobbled streets and closed sewers . In “Mexican Town”, on the other hand, corrugated iron huts , unpaved roads and outbuildings dominated the scene. Another ordinance stipulated that Hispanic women could only shop on the Anglo side of the city on Saturdays. The ethnic segregation also had consequences for the use of the Spanish language in public spaces: streets north of the tracks, for example, had Spanish names, whereas streets in “American Town” had English names . The ethnic division has been tightened by civil groups such as the Citizens Republican Committee, who have called for the right to vote for Hispanics to be restricted or completely removed.

The town continued to prosper in the 1920s and 1930s. In 1930 the population was around 4,800. The construction of a railway depot in 1927 attracted canning factories , a box factory and other manufacturing companies to Weslaco. In 1928 a water reservoir was built close to the ground . Neon lights were installed in the course of the business district modernization in 1936 . In 1939 the United States Farm Security Administration established a camp north of the city . North Weslaco, as it was named, was used to house migrant workers . In 1940 the city had around 180 resident companies and businesses , a high school , a middle school and a so-called Mexican-and-Negro school. In 1948 the A&I Citrus Centrum was opened - an agricultural testing facility dedicated to the refinement of grapefruits . In 1954 an international bridge spanning the Rio Grande was finally put into operation south of the city .

In the 1960s and 1970s, Weslaco continued to be a major center of the citrus industry in the Rio Grande Valley . The population was 15,649 in 1960. In the meantime, the city had nine schools, thirty churches , two banks, a hospital , a library , a newspaper , a radio - and a television station . North Weslaco was renamed Northside Apartments in the 1990s . The city center is still surrounded by a number of loose settlements. Colonia housing estates inhabited by Hispanics (which are scattered over the entire area of ​​the Rio Grande Valley and whose residential and sanitary facilities are often precarious) stand in contrast to gated community complexes, which can also be found in the urban area and according to the self-portrayal of the municipality underline the special quality of life in Weslaco.

In the past few decades Weslaco has been regularly affected by the hurricanes that regularly hit the region - including Hurricane Dolly (2008), which affected a number of towns and cities in Hidalgo County.

Demographics

According to data from the United States Census Bureau , the population of Weslaco in 2016 was 39,021. 18,786 of them were male , 20,235 female . 26,455 residents were 18 years or older, 12,566 children or adolescents , 6,297 older than 65 years. The median age was 33.3 years. 33,905 or 86.9% of the respondents identified themselves as Hispanic or Latino , 4,551 or 11.7% as white , 394 or 1% as Asian-American, and 144 or 0.4% as African-American . Finally, 42 0.1% stated that they belonged to more than one ethnic group . The median income per household was 36,100 US dollars (USD) according to the census . The determined median income is well below that of the US as a whole (USD 53,000) and that for the state of Texas (USD 51,900). The census showed 25% of people living in poverty and 24.6% of people without health insurance .

Others

A famous citizen of the city is Harlon Block, a US Marine . Block, a graduate of Weslaco High School, was one of six U.S. Marines who hoisted the American flag on Iwojima Island on February 23, 1945 . The campaign in which Block was involved was the second attempt, explicitly started for propaganda purposes. The inclusion of this resulted in the world famous Pulitzer Prize winning photo Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima .

sons and daughters of the town

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Population of Weslaco, TX . population.us, accessed January 26, 2018
  2. ↑ See overview maps at statisticalatlas.com and Google Maps ; accessed on January 26, 2018
  3. ^ Hidalgo County . Alicia A. Garza, Texas State Historical Association, June 15, 2010 (English)
  4. ^ Population of Weslaco, Texas . Overview map of the population on statisticalatlas.com, accessed on January 26, 2018 (English)
  5. ↑ a b c d e f Weslaco, TX . Alicia A. Garza, Texas State Historical Association, June 15, 2010 (English)
  6. ↑ There is no precise information on the date of the city's foundation. The Weslaco website lists the year 1916 in its historical review; see About | City of Weslaco, TX , weslacotx.gov, accessed January 29, 2018. 1917 or 1918 are also possible; see Weslaco, TX . Alicia A. Garza, Texas State Historical Association, June 15, 2010 (English)
  7. ↑ See video on About | City of Weslaco, TX , weslacotx.gov, accessed January 29, 2018
  8. ↑ Center played key role in Hurricane Dolly relief . Steve Taylor, Rio Grande Guardian, March 26, 2016 (English)
  9. ^ Weslaco city, Texas . ACS Demographic and Housing Estimates, 2016, American FactFinder, accessed January 26, 2018
  10. ^ Household Income in Weslaco, Texas . Household income overview on statisticalatlas.com, accessed January 26, 2018
  11. ^ Weslaco city, Texas . Information on the website of the United States Census Bureau, accessed on January 26, 2018 (English)
  12. ^ Block, Harlon Henry . David V. Stroud, Texas State Historical Association, June 12, 2010 (English)