Louisiana--Rio Grande Canal Company Irrigation System - Hidalgo, Texas - U.S. National Register of Historic Places on Waymarking.com

Closner was elected to both Hidalgo County Sheriff and the County Tax Assessor. He took advantage of these positions to acquire large parcels of the original Spanish land grants along the Rio Grande, first condemning the land for non-payment of taxes, then purchasing the land at a Sheriff’s sale. He was one of the first to use steam-power to irrigate his lands, installing the county’s first pump in 1893. The water turned his land near the river into fertile farmland, and he began raising fruits and vegetables then, eventually, sugarcane. After solving his water problem, the enterprising Closner still had the problem of transportation before his enterprise would be a success. The only options in the area were long-hauls overland or sporadic navigation of the Rio Grande.

That little problem for Closner was solved in 1905. He used his political positions and connections once again, this time to get the Sam Fordyce spur of the St. Louis, Brownsville and Mexico Railroad run through his 45,000-acre San Juan Plantation. With both water and transportation, Closner’s sugarcane plantation began thriving. After making his land holdings arable, and securing transportation, Closner turned his attention to real estate. He divided his plantation into town and farm lots, traveled to St. Louis, and exhibited his sugarcane at the World’s Fair.

Work on the system was begun in 1904. Virtually the entire 45,000-acre tract had to be cleared and over 500 miles of canals and ditches needed to be dug. For this work, the investors found cheap Mexican labor. The land was cleared by hand. Chopped mesquite from the clearing was stacked and taken to the future pumphouse to be used as fuel. The canals were dug by hand and mule; the dirt removed formed their banks.

The flowing water and seemingly year-round growing season created what Closner, Pharr and Kelly thought would be the next California or Florida. Like Closner, Pharr and Kelly divided their lands into tracts ranging from 20- to 80-acre plots. But these three men weren’t the only ones. Other ranch owners and developers along the banks of the Rio Grande, from Brownsville to Mission, formed irrigation and real-estate development partnerships. By 1920, the towns of Donna, Alamo, Mission, McAllen, Pharr, Weslaco, San Juan, Harlingen, San Benito and La Feria had sprung-up on the newly watered land along the Sam Fordyce spur of the railroad. In all, during this time period, at least sixteen irrigation districts similar to the Louisiana-Rio Grande Canal Company had been developed in the Valley.

It wasn’t long before Midwestern farmers outnumbered the Valley natives, and dramatically changed the ethnic make-up of the Valley for the next seventy years. Much to the chagrin of the landed Spanish families, segregation began to be implemented, with separate schools for Mexicans and Anglos. Unlike the previous settlers, most of who tended to blend Spanish and American culture through marriage, the new settlers held Spanish culture in contempt. This cultural divide led to the ‘Bandit Troubles’ of 1911-1915, with raids on American farms by Mexican ‘bandits.’ By World War I, the U.S. Army was dispatched to Fort Brown to quell these troubles.

On July 16, 1920, an agency was created, the Hidalgo County Water Improvement District No. 2, to purchase the Louisiana-Rio Grande Canal Company and maintain the irrigation system through tax assessments. The pumphouses were wood-fueled until 1933, when they were converted to natural gas. The following year, the Rio Grande River changed course, moving the river a half-mile from the Hidalgo Pumphouse. A new canal was dug between the pumphouse and the river.

Component of the canal system you might see throughout the Valley

Despite hard freezes in 1949 and 1951 that destroyed most of the citrus orchards, the irrigation system reached its peak in 1952. The pumps were converted from natural gas to diesel, and this system brought water to over 70,000-acres of Hidalgo County land. It was almost fifty years after the Rio Grande changed course, in 1980, that Falcon Dam was built upstream to control flooding, theoretically protecting the Valley from flooding and ensuring that the river didn’t change course. The same year, the diesel pumps were replaced by electric pumps. The flooding theory didn’t work. In September of 1983, Hurricane Allen hit the Valley and forced reverse-flow on the river. The Hidalgo Pumphouse was completely flooded. Since the pumphouse needed to be reconstructed and wasn’t on the banks of the river anymore, it was decommissioned. A new electric pumping station was placed one mile downstream.