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San Diego, Texas

Everything San Diego is known for

2 songs mention this city

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Music in San Diego

Songs About San Diego

Los Tequileros
Los Pingüinos del Norte
50%
Crosswinds
Pake Rossi
25%

Artists From San Diego

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Rivers & Roads in Song near San Diego

Songs written about the waterways and highways that run near San Diego.

U.S. Route 59 9 songs Nueces River 3 songs

History of San Diego

The Duke of Duval RoadyGoat

From the Duval County Courthouse in San Diego, one family ruled South Texas for more than 60 years. They were the Parrs, and their political machine was legendary. It began with Archer 'Archie' Parr, a county commissioner who rose to the state senate and held that seat from 1914 to 1934, mastering the 'patron' system. He provided jobs, assistance, and protection to the local Mexican-American population, and in return, they gave him their votes, enabling him to control elections with absolute certainty. His son, George B. Parr, inherited the empire and earned the nickname that has clung to the family ever since: the Duke of Duval. The machine's power was so vast it famously helped swing a U.S. Senate election for Lyndon B. Johnson in 1948 with a box of questionable late ballots. The Parrs' reign was marked by corruption, intimidation, and violence, but also by a complex relationship with the community they controlled. It all came to an end in 1975, when George Parr, facing prison, took his own life, ending a Texas political dynasty.

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The Plan of San Diego RoadyGoat

In the winter of 1915, a document surfaced that sent a shockwave of fear across Texas. It was called the 'Plan de San Diego,' and it was a radical manifesto allegedly drafted or proclaimed right here in town. The plan called for a violent uprising of Mexican Americans, African Americans, and Native Americans to reclaim Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, and California and form an independent republic. It was a desperate, revolutionary response to decades of discrimination and violence. While the grand uprising never happened, followers of the plan launched a series of raids on ranches and railroads in South Texas. The response from the Texas Rangers and local authorities was swift and brutal, leading to mass executions of hundreds of ethnic Mexicans, many of whom were innocent. The 'Plan de San Diego' remains a controversial and bloody chapter, born from the tensions simmering in this very town.

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The Iron Horse in the Brush Country RoadyGoat

As you travel through San Diego you'll likely cross a set of railroad tracks. Those tracks carry a crucial engineering and economic story. In 1879 the Corpus Christi, San Diego and Rio Grande Railroad reached the town, putting the port of Corpus Christi within easy reach of Duval County ranchers and farmers. Two years later the Texas-Mexican Railway, the Tex-Mex, took that line over and pushed on to Laredo, completing the first rail link between Corpus Christi and northern Mexico. Building it was a real feat of nineteenth-century engineering. Crews laid track through dense, thorny South Texas brush, a challenging and unforgiving country. The impact was immediate. San Diego stopped being an isolated outpost and became the primary shipping point for the whole region. Ranchers could drive cattle and sheep here to be loaded onto trains bound for national markets instead of making long, difficult overland drives. The railroad cemented San Diego's importance, fueled its growth for the next fifty years, and physically defined the town's layout in a way that is still visible today.

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El Plan de San Diego

1915

On January 6, 1915, nine men of Mexican descent met in San Diego, seat of Duval county, and signed El Plan de San Diego, a manifesto calling for political insurrection in response to contemporary social and political events. The proposed rebellion also had international implications, significantly impacting the Mexican revolution and American preparedness for World War I.
 El Plan de San Diego called for Mexican Americans, African Americans, Native Americans and Japanese Americans to rise in arms throughout the American Southwest on February 20, 1915, using force to separate Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, and California from the U.S. and establish a new nation. Deodoro Guerra, an Hidalgo County merchant, became aware of the plan on January 24, when Basilio Ramos Jr., a signer of the document, attempted to recruit Guerra to join the uprising. Guerra sent word to Hidalgo County law enforcement officials, who arrested Ramos. 
 Newspaper accounts of the proposed revolt appeared throughout the nation, causing panic and fear to spread. Though nothing happened on February 20, near-daily raids occurred in July in the Lower Rio Grande Valley. Many citizens and law enforcement officials resorted to extrajudicial means to terrorize and murder hundreds, and possibly thousands, of Mexicans and Mexican Americans. At the request of Governor James Ferguson, President Woodrow Wilson began sending soldiers to the U.S.-Mexico border. Tens of thousands of U.S. Army and National Guard troops deployed.
 Historians attribute the turmoil from El Plan de San Diego and its period in history to political upheaval and maneuvers from leaders of the Mexican revolution, efforts of Axis powers to keep the U.S. out of WWI, and longstanding ethnic and cultural conflicts between original south Texas settlers of Mexican descent and newcomers. (2015)

Historical Marker →

Parr, George Berham [1901–1975]

1926

George B. Parr, the political boss of Duval County for more than thirty years, son of Elizabeth Allen and Archer Parr , was born in San Diego, Texas, on March 1, 1901. At thirteen he served as his father's pageboy in the Texas Senate. Despite a disastrous educational record, which included brief enrollments at Texas A&M, the University of Texas, Southwestern University, and a trade school in Kansas City, George Parr entered the University of Texas law school as a special student in 1923 and passed the state bar examination three years later without earning a law degree. In 1923 he also married Thelma Duckworth of Corpus Christi. After a divorce and remarriage in the late 1930s, their relationship ended with a second divorce in 1949. From his marriage to Thelma and a later one to Eva Perez, Parr had two daughters. The disinclination of his brothers, Givens and Atlee, to pursue political careers paved the way for George to become the political heir apparent to his father, who had ruled Duval County since 1907. George Parr entered the political arena in 1926, when Archer chose him to complete Givens's term as Duval county judge. George was soon managing local affairs as the aging boss, already in his late sixties, struggled with various physical ailments and became increasingly preoccupied with state and national matters. In fact, George even surpassed his father in the role of "El Patrón" for the impoverished Mexican-American laborers who formed the majority of the county population and served as the mainstay of the Democratic machine. He became far more fluent in Spanish than Archer, tirelessly learned the names of his constituents and their children, and provided help in times of need in return for one concession-absolute loyalty. Under his leadership, both corruption and paternalism flourished in Duval County. Not even a conviction for income-tax evasion in 1934 and his subsequent imprisonment for nine months in 1936 and 1937 destroyed Parr's growing political power. His handpicked candidates continued to sweep county elections, and by the time of his father's death in 1942, Parr stood as the undisputed boss of Duval County-in both a political and an economic sense. He amassed a sizable fortune with income from banking, mercantile, ranching, and oil interests and, of course, from the public treasury. His political influence extended into other South Texas counties as well. With pardon from President Harry Truman in 1946, he even reclaimed the right to run for public office, and later held the posts of county judge and sheriff for his home county. The remainder of Parr's political career was highlighted by a seemingly endless series of spectacular scandals, involving election fraud, graft on the grand scale, and violence. His most celebrated scheme decided the outcome of the United States Senate race between Coke R. Stevenson and Lyndon B. Johnson in 1948. With Stevenson the apparent winner, election officials in Jim Wells County, probably acting on Parr's orders, reported an additional 202 votes for Johnson a week after the primary runoff and provided the future president with his eighty-seven-vote margin of victory for the whole state. Amid charges of fraud, the voting lists disappeared. Even more sordid controversies followed. As strong challenges from the Freedom party, consisting mainly of World War II veterans, developed in several South Texas counties, including Duval, two critics of Parr's rule and the son of another met violent deaths. While denying Parr's involvement in two of the killings, his biographer, Dudley Lynch, concedes that the evidence against Parr in the shooting of the son of Jacob Floyd, an attorney for the Freedom party, was both "highly circumstantial" and "highly incriminating." After this third murder, Governor Allan Shivers , Texas attorney general John Ben Shepperd , and federal authorities launched all-out campaigns to destroy the Parr machine. Investigations of the 1950s produced over 650 indict

Tsha Handbook →

Plan of San Diego

1915

With the outbreak of revolution in northern Mexico in 1910, federal authorities and officials of the state of Texas feared that the violence and disorder might spill over into the Rio Grande valley. The Mexican and Mexican-American populations residing in the Valley far outnumbered the Anglo population. Many Valley residents either had relatives living in areas of Mexico affected by revolutionary activity or aided the various revolutionary factions in Mexico. The revolution caused an influx of political refugees and undocumented immigrants into the border region, politicizing the Valley population and disturbing the traditional politics of the region. Some radical elements saw the Mexican Revolution as an opportunity to bring about drastic political and economic changes in South Texas. The most extreme example of this was a movement supporting the "Plan of San Diego," a revolutionary manifesto supposedly written and signed at the South Texas town of San Diego on January 6, 1915. The plan, actually drafted in a jail in Monterrey, Nuevo León, provided for the formation of a "Liberating Army of Races and Peoples," to be made up of Mexican Americans, African Americans, and Japanese , to "free" the states of Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, California, and Colorado from United States control. The liberated states would be organized into an independent republic, which might later seek annexation to Mexico. There would be a no-quarter race war, with summary execution of all White males over the age of sixteen. The revolution was to begin on February 20, 1915. Federal and state officials found a copy of the plan when local authorities in McAllen, Texas, arrested Basilio Ramos, Jr., one of the leaders of the plot, on January 24, 1915. The arrival of February 20 produced only another revolutionary manifesto, rather than the promised insurrection. Similar to the original plan, this second Plan of San Diego emphasized the "liberation" of the proletariat and focused on Texas, where a "social republic" would be established to serve as a base for spreading the revolution throughout the southwestern United States. Indians were also to be enlisted in the cause. But with no signs of revolutionary activity, state and federal authorities dismissed the plan as one more example of the revolutionary rhetoric that flourished along the border. This feeling of complacency was shattered in July 1915 with a series of raids in the lower Rio Grande valley connected with the Plan of San Diego. These raids were led by two adherents of Venustiano Carranza, revolutionary general, and Aniceto Pizaña and Luis De la Rosa , residents of South Texas. The bands used the guerilla tactics of disrupting transportation and communication in the border area and killing Anglos. In response, the United States Army moved reinforcements into the area. A third version of the plan called for the foundation of a "Republic of Texas" to be made up of Texas, New Mexico, California, Arizona, and parts of Mississippi and Oklahoma. San Antonio, Texas, was to serve as revolutionary headquarters, and the movement's leadership continued to come from South Texas. Raids originated on both sides of the Rio Grande, eventually assuming a pattern of guerilla warfare. Raids from the Mexican side came from territory under the control of Carranza, whose officers were accused of supporting the raiders. When the United States recognized Carranza as president of Mexico in October 1915, the raids came to an abrupt halt. Relations between the United States and Carranza quickly turned sour, however, amid growing violence along the border. When forces under another revolutionary general, Francisco (Pancho) Villa , attacked Columbus, New Mexico, in March 1916, the United States responded by sending a large military force under Gen. John J. Pershing into northern Mexico in pursuit of Villa. When the United States rejected Carranza's demands to withdraw Pershing's troops, fear of a military conflict between the

Tsha Handbook →

Ramos, Basilio, Jr.

1915

According to his own account, Basilio Ramos, Jr., was born around 1890 in Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, Mexico. He later attended high school in Norman, Oklahoma. Ramos was a primary figure in the Plan of San Diego , a plot that called for an armed rebellion of non-Whites against the United States to begin on February 20, 1915, at two o'clock in the morning. In 1914 Ramos had been jailed in Mexico for supporting Victoriano Huerta , a Mexican revolutionary who was supported by the military and business interests. Authorities released him on May 29 on the condition that he leave Mexico immediately and not return. After crossing the border, Ramos found a job in San Diego, Texas, for the Royal Brewing Company of Kansas City. He soon returned to Mexico, and on December 29, 1914, he was arrested and incarcerated in Monterrey. According to Ramos's sworn statement later given to Hidalgo County officials, during this stint in jail, an unknown associate of Ramos allegedly created the Plan of San Diego and smuggled it into his cell around January 6, 1915. Ramos, along with eight others, signed the document. According to Ramos's own account, only two weeks elapsed between his first knowledge of the plot and his arrest in Texas. In January 1915 the deputy sheriff of Hidalgo County, Tom Mayfield, arrested Ramos in McAllen. Ramos was then going by the alias B. R. Garcia and had apparently approached a man named Andres Villareal in Hidalgo County and asked for support for the rebellion, but Villareal immediately alerted the authorities. Among the many papers Ramos had in his possession, authorities discovered one titled the "Plan of San Diego, Texas." The document called for Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, and California to break away from the United States and form an independent nation to be annexed by Mexico in the future. Rebels would attain six other adjacent U.S. states for the purpose of creating an independent nation for Blacks, and the manifesto promised to return ancestral lands to Native American groups (and specifically named the Apaches of Arizona) in exchange for their support of the cause. Perhaps most shocking was the plan's call for the execution of all prisoners taken during the rebellion, along with all Anglo males over the age of sixteen. The document appointed Ramos to establish juntas in the five southwestern states that were to be liberated. After the discovery of the plan, United States Marshal T. P. Bishop and Special Agent Frank J. McDevitt transported Ramos to Brownsville, where E. C. Breniman of the Department of Justice charged him with conspiracy against the United States. Authorities held Ramos in the Cameron County jail on charges of sedition, and he was unable to pay the $5,000 bond the judge had set for his release. By May 1915 the judge reduced this bond payment to $100 and stated that Ramos "ought to be tried for lunacy, not conspiring against the United States." Ramos made bail and fled to Mexico. Although he had left the country, his actions continued to have significant ramifications in South Texas during 1915. Ramos's arrest and the discovery of the plan significantly exacerbated racial tensions in South Texas. A series of raids in July and August of 1915 and the deaths of several Anglos, purported to have been carried out by Mexican nationals and their Mexican American sympathizers, resulted in indiscriminate violence aimed at Tejanos . Anglo citizens and law enforcement officials alike did not simply strike back against those suspected of participating in the raids, but against any Tejanos they saw as "bad Mexicans." After nearly every major raid in 1915, civilian vigilante groups, the Texas Rangers , and others targeted ethnic Mexicans. Lynchings often took place regardless of guilt. Little is known of Ramos's life after he returned to Mexico. In December 1916 a U.S. military intelligence officer reportedly spoke to him in Monterrey and stated that Ramos expressed disillusionment with the revolutio

Tsha Handbook →

The Plan de San Diego

1915

Manifesto written in San Diego, Texas in 1915 that called for an armed uprising by Mexican-Americans against the United States, leading to raids in South Texas and the deadliest period of Tejano persecution in state history.

Duval County

1836

Created February 1, 1858, organized November 7, 1876. Named in honor of Burr H. Duval, 1809-1836. Captain of a company of Fannin's command at Goliad. Murdered after the surrender March 27, 1836. San Diego, the county seat.

Historical Marker →

Things to Do in San Diego

quirky 15.2 mi away
World Champion Baton Twirler Billboard

A roadside billboard on State Highway 359 welcomes visitors to Benavides as the home of six-time world champion baton twirler Bonnie Palacios. Her father…

Everything Near San Diego

80 stories, landmarks & places within ~20 miles — the same local lore RoadyGoat plays as you drive through.

  • Parr, George Berham [1901–1975] · Tsha Handbook

    George B. Parr, the political boss of Duval County for more than thirty years, son of Elizabeth Allen and Archer Parr , was born in San Diego, Texas, on March 1, 1901. At thirteen he served as his father's pageboy in…

  • Plan of San Diego · Tsha Handbook

    With the outbreak of revolution in northern Mexico in 1910, federal authorities and officials of the state of Texas feared that the violence and disorder might spill over into the Rio Grande valley. The Mexican and…

  • Ramos, Basilio, Jr. · Tsha Handbook

    According to his own account, Basilio Ramos, Jr., was born around 1890 in Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, Mexico. He later attended high school in Norman, Oklahoma. Ramos was a primary figure in the Plan of San Diego , a plot…

  • Bard, John Peter · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through South Texas, near San Diego, and right here is where Father John Peter Bard served a massive parish. He arrived in 1877, covering 200 ranches and missions spread over 100 miles south and 60 miles…

  • Buckley, William Frank · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Duval County, and right here, in what's now San Diego, a young William Frank Buckley learned Spanish. That skill would become his ticket to international fame and fortune. He grew up fluent in the…

  • Duval County · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Duval County, and right here, in the late 1870s, this place was a hotbed for outlaws. In 1873, the infamous Alberto Garza and his sixty-man crew made this area the center of their horse-stealing…

  • Moses, John Williamson · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through South Texas, maybe near San Diego, where John Williamson Moses carved out a life as a lawyer, judge, and writer. He arrived in Texas way back in 1841, eventually settling in the Banquete area.…

  • Perez, Pablo · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through South Texas, and right here is the birthplace of San Diego. Pablo Perez, a key founder, arrived in the late 1840s. While others were mapping routes, Perez saw opportunity. He bought land across…

  • Tequileros · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through South Texas, maybe near the border, and you might just be passing through the old stomping grounds of the 'tequileros.' Literally meaning 'tequila people,' these were smugglers who, during…

  • San Diego, TX · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through San Diego, a town with roots stretching back centuries. Long before it was a town, travelers stopped here for water at springs on what's now San Diego Creek. By 1809, Spanish land grants were…

  • Garcia, Juan Mario [Juan Colorado] · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving near San Diego, Texas, the birthplace of Juan Mario Garcia, better known as Juan Colorado. Born in 1923, his distinctive red hair earned him that nickname, and he started his first band while still in…

  • Jaillet, Claude · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through South Texas, and right here in San Diego, you're passing through a community that owes its spiritual beginnings to Father Claude Jaillet. He arrived from France in 1866, landing in New York and…

Show all 80 nearby places
  • Luby, James O. · Tsha Handbook

    James O. Luby, Confederate soldier, lawyer, Duval County official, rancher, and Republican party leader, was born on June 14, 1846, in London, England, to Daniel and Kate (Smith) Luby. In 1854 his widowed mother took…

  • Rodriguez de Gonzales, Elvira · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through South Texas, perhaps near San Diego, where Elvira Rodriguez de Gonzales made her mark. Born in Mexico in 1883, she came to Texas and became a dedicated teacher. But her real passion was bridging…

  • St. Francis de Paula Catholic Church · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of St. Francis de Paula Catholic Church. Established in 1867 by Father Claude Jaillet, it was built by its members and served as the area's religious center. The current church building was…

  • El Plan de San Diego · 0.1 mi · Historical Marker

    On January 6, 1915, nine men of Mexican descent met in San Diego, seat of Duval county, and signed El Plan de San Diego, a manifesto calling for political insurrection in response to contemporary social and political…

  • The Plan de San Diego · 0.2 mi · Historical Marker

    Manifesto written in San Diego, Texas in 1915 that called for an armed uprising by Mexican-Americans against the United States, leading to raids in South Texas and the deadliest period of Tejano persecution in state…

  • Duval County · 0.3 mi · Historical Marker

    Created February 1, 1858, organized November 7, 1876. Named in honor of Burr H. Duval, 1809-1836. Captain of a company of Fannin's command at Goliad. Murdered after the surrender March 27, 1836. San Diego, the county…

  • Ranching, then oil in the 1900s · 0.3 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Duval County, a region shaped by both its landscape and its people. Created by the Texas Legislature in 1858, it was organized in 1879. Early settlers, including those from Mexico and later Anglo…

  • Murdered after the Goliad surrender · 0.3 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Duval County, established in 1858 and organized in 1876. It's named for Burr H. Duval, a captain under Fannin at Goliad. He was murdered after the surrender in March of 1836. The county seat is…

  • Duval County · 0.3 mi · Historical Marker

    Created by the Texas Legislature in 1858 and organized in 1879, Duval County played an important role in the economic and political development of South Texas. Early settlers came to this area in the mid-19th century…

  • Texas HS Baseball Leaders 2026: San Diego (San Diego) · 0.5 mi

    San Diego (San Diego, TX) placed on the 3A Texas high school baseball stat leaderboards for the 2026 season: Omar Aleman (0.444 avg).

  • The Duke of Duval · 0.8 mi

    From the Duval County Courthouse in San Diego, one family ruled South Texas for more than 60 years. They were the Parrs, and their political machine was legendary. It began with Archer 'Archie' Parr, a county…

  • The Plan of San Diego · 0.8 mi

    In the winter of 1915, a document surfaced that sent a shockwave of fear across Texas. It was called the 'Plan de San Diego,' and it was a radical manifesto allegedly drafted or proclaimed right here in town. The plan…

  • The Iron Horse in the Brush Country · 0.8 mi

    As you travel through San Diego you'll likely cross a set of railroad tracks. Those tracks carry a crucial engineering and economic story. In 1879 the Corpus Christi, San Diego and Rio Grande Railroad reached the town,…

  • Vicinity of Texas Rangers' Battle of May 29, 1850 · 8.1 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past Vicinity of Texas Rangers' Battle of May 29, 1850. A gallant fight in era after Mexican War, while the Federals and Texans were ridding Nueces to Rio Grande area of marauders. Texas Rangers under…

  • Rancho Alegre, TX · 8.9 mi

    As of the 2000 census, Rancho Alegre's population was 79.15% White, 0.73% African American, 0.73% Native American, 0.06% Asian, 17.41% from other races, and 1.92% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race…

  • Wright, William Thomas · 9.3 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through what was once the heart of South Texas ranching country. Right here, near Nuecestown, William Thomas Wright was born back in 1869. He grew up to be a legendary cattle drover, moving tens of…

  • Los Preseños, TX · 9.3 mi · Tsha Handbook

    Los Preseños was a Mexican ranch settlement about two miles east of the site of what is now Alice in Jim Wells County. It was started by Marcelino López of Camargo, Tamaulipas, Mexico, in 1831 after he applied in…

  • Jim Wells County · 9.4 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Jim Wells County, Texas. This county was formed from Nueces County and officially organized back in 1911. It's named for Judge James B. Wells, a prominent lawyer who was born in Texas in 1854 and…

  • The Birthplace of Tejano Music · 9.6 mi

    You're in the town that gave modern Tejano music its voice. After World War II, a local man named Armando Marroquin was running a jukebox business here, and he kept hitting the same wall: there were almost no…

  • The Duke and the Stolen Election · 9.6 mi

    Alice sits in Jim Wells County, which was once part of a political fiefdom run by the powerful and corrupt Parr family. George Parr, known as the 'Duke of Duval,' controlled politics in South Texas for decades through a…

  • The Technology of the Oil Patch · 9.6 mi

    Alice’s role in the oil industry goes far beyond just drilling wells. It became a crucial center for petroleum technology and engineering. The geology of South Texas presents unique challenges—tricky shale layers,…

  • The Hub City · 9.6 mi

    Why is Alice called the 'Hub City'? Look at a map, and you’ll see why. The name isn't just a booster slogan; it’s a literal description of the town’s function. It started with railroads. The San Antonio and Aransas Pass…

  • Alice Cemetery · 10.0 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the Alice Cemetery, a burial ground serving this area for over a century. It began in 1903 when Frederic Nayer donated land for the town's burial ground, then called Alice Fraternal Cemetery. The…

  • McGill Brothers Building · 10.1 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past McGill Brothers Building. Mississippi native J. W. McGill and his wife Lydia (Abell) reared two sons, James Claude (1873-1935) and H. Frank (1883-1952).

  • Alice · 10.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Alice, a town born from railroads back in the 1880s. It started as Bandana, then Kleberg, before finally being named Alice in 1888 when the post office opened. By 1911, it had grown enough to…

  • First Presbyterian Church of Alice · 10.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of Alice's First Presbyterian Church. Organized in 1898 with fifteen charter members, it began as a mission church. The congregation purchased land for $137.75 in 1903 and completed its…

  • Jim Wells County Courthouse · 10.3 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the Jim Wells County Courthouse, a building that's been the center of county government since it was constructed. Governor Colquitt created Jim Wells County in 1911, named for James B. Wells, Jr. The…

  • Alice, TX · 10.4 mi

    Alice, Texas, sits a little higher than you might expect, a subtle rise in the coastal plain where mesquite trees stubbornly thrive. It’s a hardworking town, no doubt about it, and fiercely proud of its Texan roots. The…

  • Los Preseños · 10.4 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Jim Wells County, and just east of here, a settlement called Los Preseños began in 1831. Marcelino Lopez received a land grant from Mexico to start this community along a vital trade route. Though…

  • Ideal Records · 10.6 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Alice, Texas, right where a musical revolution got its start. Back in 1946, Armando Marroquín saw a gap in the market. Major labels were ditching ethnic music, so he took matters into his own…

  • La Villita Dance Hall · 10.6 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving near Alice, and right here, you're passing the site of what was once known as the 'Grand Ole Opry' of Tejano and conjunto music: La Villita Dance Hall. Opened in 1952 by Armando and Carmen Marroquín, this…

  • Marroquín, Armando · 10.6 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Alice, Texas, where a frustrated jukebox operator named Armando Marroquín decided to start his own record label. Back in 1946, he was tired of not finding enough Tejano music to play, so he turned…

  • Tejano R.O.O.T.S. Hall of Fame Museum · 10.6 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Alice, Texas, the official birthplace of Tejano music! Right here is where the Tejano R.O.O.T.S. Hall of Fame Museum is located. Founded in 1999, this museum celebrates Tejano music, a vibrant…

  • Alice, TX · 10.6 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Alice, Texas, but did you know this town owes its existence to a railroad dispute? Back in 1880, the San Antonio and Aransas Pass Railway wanted to build through the existing community of Collins,…

  • Perales, Alonso S. · 10.6 mi · Tsha Handbook

    Alonso S. Perales, civil rights activist, lawyer, diplomat, and public intellectual, was born on October 17, 1898, to Susana (Sandoval) and Nicolas Perales in Alice, Texas. He was orphaned at age six and as a child…

  • Treviño, Fortino · 10.6 mi · Tsha Handbook

    Fortino Treviño, World War I veteran, barber, and civil rights activist, was born in Rancho de los Sáenz, Starr County, Texas, on October 8, 1891, to Crecensio Treviño and Eugenia Naranjo. He grew up in Alice, Texas,…

  • Marroquín, Carmen Hernández · 10.6 mi · Tsha Handbook

    Right here in Alice, Texas, you're passing through a place that became a hub for Tejano music! Carmen Hernández Marroquín, part of the famous sister duet Carmen y Laura, found her kitchen transformed into a recording…

  • Naranjo, Ruben · 10.6 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Alice, Texas, the hometown of Ruben Naranjo, a legendary conjunto accordionist. Born here in 1945, Naranjo became known as "El Hijo del Pueblo," or "The Son of the Town," and "El Si Senor" for his…

  • Velázquez, Eulalio · 10.6 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Alice, Texas, where Eulalio Velázquez made a significant mark on the Mexican-American community. Around 1903, he established El Cosmopolita, the area's very first newspaper printed entirely in…

  • Glossbrenner, Ernestine Viola · 10.6 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through South Texas, and right here in Alice, you're passing through the community that was home to Ernestine Viola Glossbrenner. She wasn't just a teacher for over twenty years; she became a powerful…

  • Collins, TX (Nueces County) · 10.6 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through what is now Jim Wells County, near Alice. Just a century ago, this was the site of Collins, a town that sprang up in 1878. It was built on the Los Preseños grant, right across San Fernando Creek…

  • Ladies LULAC · 10.6 mi · Tsha Handbook

    Ladies LULAC was composed of women's chapters in the League of United Latin American Citizens , the oldest Hispanic civil-rights organization in Texas. Ladies LULAC was founded in 1933 at the statewide annual LULAC…

  • Presnall, Pope A. · 10.6 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through South Texas, and right here, you're passing through the history of Pope A. Presnall. Back in 1883, he drove the first herd of cattle across the Devil's River onto the vast Pecos Range, westward to…

  • Jim Wells County · 10.6 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Jim Wells County, and right here, the town of Alice owes its existence to a railroad and a bit of relocation. Back in 1878, the settlement of Collins sprang up as a stop on the Corpus Christi, San…

  • Escobar, Eligio Roque · 10.9 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through South Texas, maybe near Ben Bolt, where Eligio Roque Escobar was born. He worked as an oilfield truck driver until a severe leg injury in 1960 changed everything. Instead of driving trucks, he…

  • The Highway Name That Took Seventy Years to Make Legal · 11.1 mi

    Every mile of U S Highway Two Eighty One inside Texas is the American Legion Memorial Highway, and the name is much older than the law behind it. On April thirtieth, nineteen thirty five, the Texas Highway Commission…

  • Archelaus Bynum Dodson · 11.7 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the final resting place of Archelaus Bynum Dodson, a Texas patriot who holds a special place in state history. Back in 1835, his wife Sarah presented a hand-sewn red, white, and blue flag to his…

  • Felipe Valerio Store and Garage · 11.7 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of the old Valerio Store and Garage, built back in 1905. For decades, this spot served the rural community of La Rosita, providing groceries and goods. By the 1930s, the oil boom brought gas…

  • Mr. F. and the Road to His Park · 12.0 mi

    Farm to Market Road Nineteen Thirty One in Alice is Flournoy Road, named by the Legislature in nineteen ninety nine for an Alice oilman known as Mr. F. Lucien Flournoy was born in Greenwood, Louisiana, and earned a…

  • Amargosa, TX · 12.1 mi · Tsha Handbook

    Amargosa (Armagosa) is a mile off U.S. Highway 281 and eight miles northwest of Alice in northwestern Jim Wells County. It was originally a ranch settlement on Amargosa Creek, owned by Manuel Barrera of Mier,…

  • La Mota de Olmos Cemetery · 13.9 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the La Mota de Olmos Cemetery, begun in 1894 on land that was once part of the Rancho La Mota de Olmos. This ranch was settled by the Bazan family, founded by Francisco Bazan Villarreal on land…

  • Las Calaveras Cemetery · 15.0 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the Las Calaveras Cemetery, a resting place for generations of the Valadez family and the Ben Bolt community. The earliest marked grave here is Daniel Valadez, who died in <say-as interpret-as="date"…

  • In the Duke of Duval's Domain · 15.2 mi

    For decades, you couldn't talk about Benavides without talking about 'The Duke of Duval,' George Parr. He ran one of the most powerful and notorious political machines in American history from the county seat in San…

  • Finding the Benavides Field · 15.2 mi

    The oil that made Benavides a boomtown wasn't found by accident. It was found with science. Geologists studying South Texas knew that deep underground lay the Frio and Vicksburg formations—layers of porous sandstone…

  • Benavides, TX · 15.2 mi

    The town's history is deeply rooted in the legacy of Plácido Benavides, who served in the Confederate States Army and later established one of Duval County's largest ranches, 'Rancho Palo Alto'. In 1880, he allowed the…

  • When the Oil Derricks Rose · 15.2 mi

    Imagine driving this same road, Highway 359, back in the 1940s or '50s. The view would have been very different. Instead of quiet ranchland, you would have seen a forest of oil derricks stretching to the horizon. The…

  • South Texas Brush Country - Cabeza de Vaca's Prickly Pear Years · 15.2 mi · Historical Event

    You're in the brush country of South Texas, the region Cabeza de Vaca called the Land of Tunas — the land of prickly pears. From about 1532 to 1534, he and three other Spanish survivors lived among the Mariames and…

  • World Champion Baton Twirler Billboard · 15.2 mi · Things to Do

    A roadside billboard on State Highway 359 welcomes visitors to Benavides as the home of six-time world champion baton twirler Bonnie Palacios. Her father…

  • Merchants Exchange Bank · 15.5 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of the Merchants Exchange Bank, a symbol of Benavides' boom times. Opened in 1908 by Francisco Vaello Puig, the bank grew with the railroad and oil discoveries. The Vaello family built this…

  • Parr, Archer · 15.6 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through South Texas, and right here in Duval County, you're passing through the heart of a political empire built on a mix of patronage, corruption, and coercion. Archer Parr, a man who dropped out of…

  • Benavides, TX · 15.6 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Benavides, a town that owes its existence to a railroad depot and a generous landowner. In 1881, Plácido Benavides, a Confederate veteran and rancher, donated eighty acres of his land for a…

  • Antonio López Family Cemetery · 15.6 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the Antonio López Family Cemetery, in continuous use since 1903. It's the final resting place of Rancho San José founder José Antonio López, who, along with his wife María, emigrated from Mexico in…

  • Boss Rule · 16.7 mi · Tsha Handbook

    During the second half of the nineteenth century and the first part of the twentieth, boss rule became a prevalent pattern of political organization in the big cities of the United States. Typically, a clique of…

  • Palangana, TX · 16.7 mi · Tsha Handbook

    Palangana was seven miles north of Benavides in eastern Duval County. Its name, which means "basin" in Spanish, was taken from the Palangana Ranch and refers to the nearby salt dome eroded into a basin shape. Anthony F.…

  • Mexican American Republicans of Texas · 16.7 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Texas, and right here, in the post-World War II era, a political shift was brewing. In 1965, Mexican-American leaders, tired of being taken for granted by Democrats, began organizing within the…

  • Pat Dunn County · 16.7 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through what was almost Pat Dunn County. In 1913, Duval County boss Archer Parr tried to carve out a new county to increase his political power. He first proposed Ross County, but that failed. Then, he…

  • Alfred, TX · 17.7 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Jim Wells County, and right here is the community of Alfred. It started in 1888 as a town called Driscoll. But when the railroad came through in 1904, the new station wanted to be named Driscoll…

  • Santo Nino Cemetery · 18.0 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the Santo Nino Cemetery, a final resting place for families in Duval County for over a century. The oldest readable tombstone here belongs to Eluterio Saenz Martinez, born way back in 1827. This…

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