San Antonio light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1911-1993, 1926-04-13
HARLINCEN WONDER SPOT
OF RIO GRANDE VALLEY

HARLINGEN, April 13.-A few
years ago-five to be exact-Harlin-
.gen was merely a spot on the railroad
map. And it was the kind of a spot
that one would not desire to inhabit
longer than train schedules made nee
essary. Harlingen was the junction
point of the main and branch lines of
the st. Louis. Brownsville & Mexico
railroad and possessed listless COM
mercial activity consequent to its
strategical position. At that time the
spirit that had placed other cities in
the Valley in the van of progressive
cities had not hit Harlingen, and dirt
roads that were muddy barriers at
times discouraged traffic except for
forced stopovers. The population of
1856 inhabitants in 1920 seemed to
be content to see prosperity march
through the entire Valley and pass
Harlingen by.
But, something happened and Har-
lingen began to realize her possible
ties as the gateway to the most fertile
section on the American continent.
She also began to see herself in the
light of thriving agricultural COM
munity with the same advantages and
the same prospects as its neighbors.
And, once awake, Harlingen set a
merry pace. 1t is the boast of citizons
that at no time in the past three years
has there been cessation of building
activities and the number of MESQUITE
and cactus covered acres that have
been redeemed and put into cultivation
since 1922 border on the astounding.
Asphalt paving has replaced the dirt
road throughout the business district
and program now in process of com
pletion will afford 30 blocks of hard
surfaced paving in the residential Sec
ton alone. When the present cam
paign is finished the business section
will also have more than five miles of
paved and curbed commercial arteries
EXTENSIVE BUILDING.
1t is doubtful; if there is any sec
tion of the United States where build
ing operations are as extensive in pro-
portion to population as in Harlingen.
Already a five-story building is point
ing to the sky as evidence of the five
year progressive program that has
brought the population to 600 and
increased the productive trade area
some six times over. Another building |
of similar size is being constructed as
a neighbor and when completed will
house modern fireprOof hotel Of 100 |
rooms. A second structure of smaller |
is now being completed |
for the same purpose, as the transient |
demands are already in excess of the |
capacity of the five-story
building and in the downtown district. |
In five years Harlingen has pro.
crossed from a dust-covered, frame |
flat-roofed town to thriv- |
ing beehive Of commercial activity |
with modern brick buildings and beau
tiful residences stretching in every d. |
rectiOn. That rural activity has kept |
pace with city development is evi.
denced by the fact that hundreds Of |
homes have been built along the paved |
roads that lead three ways from the
city. Many of these are of the palatial |
order, homes of affluent farmers who
have been attracted to the district by
the wonderful productivity Of the soil
and the climatic advantages that
make the Lower Rio Grande Valley |
an ideal place TO live. Harlingen has
taken its place among the most pro-
greSsiye cities Of the Valley and bids
fair to outstrip many of its neighbors
because Of the progressive spirit prev
alent on every hand and the strategic
position it occupies as the very center
Of the richest agricultural district
known TO the world today.
INDUSTRIAL CENTER.
The railroad junction makes Har-
lingen an industrial center and n
great majority of the shipping for the
entire Valley is supervised and routed
from this point. The rejoicing plant
at Harlingen handled more than
1900 cars Of perisbable fruits and