Brownsville herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1910-current, 1924-12-21
FL JARDIN IS
COMMUNITY OF
FINE0RCHARDS
The Garden One Of
Most Wonderful De-
v~elopments in Lower
Rio Grande Valley

Ell Jardine typifies Americas
This community, which five
years ago was little more than a
wilderness, shows the ability of
a group of Americans, assembled
from the four corners of the
United States, to cooperate in
the development of their COM
munity, in which development
Ell Jardin offers one of the most
remarkable examples in the
country.
FL Jardin's development has been es-
s~entials Of the community. With no
city inside the district, all of the CO
operative endeavors Of the community
have been directed by the community
council, which holds regular meetings.
and directs matters Of interest to all
residents.
Situated directly east of Brownsville.
and being the most southern irrigated
district in the United States. Ell Jardin.
or The Garden" is one of the most
fertile spots in the Rio Grande.
The territory is bounded by the Rio
Grande on the south, by the city of
Brownsville on the west, and on the
north and east the bounds are more
indefinite, ending in undeveloped land
in those districts.
Development of the FL Jardin tract
began late in November, 1919. by the
Lone Star Immigration Co., Of which
Lee B. James and A. d. Dickinson, Jr.,
were the directors. After five years
Of continuous development there is
hardly a tract Of land in the section
now that is not owned by SOME farmer
Of the district, and most Of the tract il
in cultivation. The rich land of the
section yields substantial profits when
planted to truck, cotton or citrus, al
shown by some of the remarkable crops
harvested by Ell Jardin residents.
Graded Roads
Ell Jardin now has about $50 miles of
graded dirt roads, most of which are in
perfect condition, and work is being
done at the present time on the roads,
which have bad places in them. In
carrying out this work the merchants
of Brownsville named a committee to
cooperate with the Ell Jardin people, and
the work is being carried on cooper
atively, the county commissioner for
the precinct, Sam Bell, furnishing grad.
ers and tractors. This work was start
ed early in December, in order to have
the roads in good shape by spring, when
TIE heaviest movement Of truck VII
take place.
The distric. has two community
houses, Community House No. | having
been constructed by the land company,
and dedicated to the community, along
with a s~ix-acre tract of land which has
since been set out in citrus. The COM
munity house No. 2 was built by resi-
dents of the far east section Of Ell
Jardin, and is used to hold the regular
community council meetings in. Plans
for the improvement of this community
house are under way at the present
time.
Ell Jardin has four district schools,
with an enrolment of close to 1000
pupils, and Ia teachers. In addition
to the number of pupils enrolled in the
schools there, a number of Ell Jardin
pupils are enrolled in schools OF
Brownsville. The community recently,
voted a tax of 81 to be used in the
construction of a high school. and il
this tax proves insufficient a bond
issue will be sibmtted to the people
Of the community for a vote.
Church Services
Sunday school and church services in
FL Jardin are held in Community House
No. 2, with an average attendance Of
$50 to 1000 persons, and in addition TO
this number many people Of the COM
munity attend church services in
Brownsville. Clubs which are main
tanned by the women Of the community
are the Ell Jardin Friendly club, Parent
Teacher association. Nah Jongg club,
and Girls Sewing circle, in addition to
which are the Boys Citrus club and
Boys Pig club.
Approximately $4,000 acres of land
are irrigated by the Ell Jardin Irrigation
system, irrigation of the district being
easy due to the low lift, and to the eff
ficient irrigation facilities, concfete
bitches being installed on many of the
farms of the community.
FL Jardin has made another Low s'ep
toward development in the recent in
stallation Of a drainage system. This
underground system of carrying off the
water has improved much of the land
Of the community, which was at first
spotted in some places, and has in
creased the value Of all the land in Ell
Jardin. Being Of a rather flat topog-
raphy, the land required drainage in
order to carry off the irrigation and
rainfall, "
FL Jardin is one Of the most fertile
region of the entire Valley. and crops
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