Texas Historical Marker #01847
First Presbyterian Church of San Benito. This church was organized in 1910, three years after the founding of San Benito. The first building, a frame structure completed in 1911, served the congregation until a hurricane destroyed it in 1933. The following year, this building ws constructed. Funded in part by a Federal Government loan, it was known as America's first Public Works Administration church. The structure's Mission Revival style features arched gable parapets. #1847
566 N. Reagan, San Benito, TX, United States
Texas Historical Marker #02533
Home of Col. Sam Robertson. San Benito was begun in 1904 by Sam A. Robertson (1867-1938). A wealthy civil engineer and builder, he saw farming potential in the valley. He became Sheriff and first Postmaster. He built irrigation canals and a railroad network that connected farms with produce markets. He started a Padre Island development and Del Mar, a recreational area at Boca Chica. In 1911 Robertson and his wife Adele built this house. With thick walls and high windows, it served as a fortress against marauding bandits from across the border. In 1945 the house was sold to John T. Lomax. #2533
509 N. Sam Houston, San Benito, TX, United States
Texas Historical Marker #04439
St. Benedict's Church. The original St. Benedict's Church was erected in 1910, two years before the congregation became parish, and was destroyed by fire in 1923. This brick structure was built to replace it in 1925, under the leadership of Father Yvo Tymen, O.M.I. (1879-1977), who served as pastor of St. Benedict's from 1921 to 1937. In addition to this church, he supervised the construction of a rectory and renovation of school facilities damaged by a 1933 hurricane. #4439
351 S. Bowie, San Benito, TX, United States
Texas Historical Marker #04526
San Benito Bank and Trust Company. Chartered in 1908, one year after the founding of San Benito, this institution was started by two brothers, W. Scott Heywood and Alba Heywood. The bank was moved here in 1911 when work was completed on this Spanish Colonial Revival structure. The second floor housed offices and the city library, organized at this site in 1914. Flags flown from the building warned area farmers of bad weather. #4526
198 S. Sam Houston, San Benito, TX, United States
Texas Historical Marker #00892
San Benito. Founded by an engineer, Col. Sam Robertson, on Gulf Coast Railroad that in 1904 reached this area colonized by Mexico about 1770. First called "Bessie", for child of railroad official B.F. Yoakum, then "Diaz", to honor Mexican president; present name honors landowner Benjamin Hicks. Land and water company and sugar company opened here, 1906. Robertson was first Postmaster, 1907. School also opened in 1907, with Miss Kate Purvis, teacher. City was incorporated June 27, 1911: J.M. Breen, Mayor; J. Scott Brown, J.H. Haines, Commissioners. #892
?, San Benito, TX, United States
Texas Historical Marker #03032
Landrum House. This house stands on the 1781 Concepcion de Carricitos grant from the king of Spain to Eugenio and Bartolome Fernandez. Acquiring a part of the grant as fee for his legal services to the heirs, col. Stephen Powers of Brownsville gave the site to his daughter Frances and her husband, James Lambert Landrum. The landrums, who completed the house in 1902, had daughters: Martha, Pauline and Frances. In 1978 Frances owns and lives in the house. #3032
?, San Benito, TX, United States
Texas Historical Marker #11789
Water District Building. Designed by Austin architects Endress and Walsh and built by contractor L. Fleming, the San Benito Land and Water Company building was completed in 1910 at a cost of $14,386. Thirty-foot pine beams and locally made brick were used to construct the home of the company. A fine example of the mission revival style, the edifice features a red tile roof, wooden bracketed eaves, a stucco exterior, and curved fable parapets. The building has been home to many San Benito institutions, notably the irrigation and drainage districts. A beloved fixture of downtown San Benito, it stands as a memorial to the vital role of irrigation in valley life. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1997 #11789
216 S. Sam Houston, San Benito, TX, United States
Texas Historical Marker #12337
All Saints' Episcopal Church. Early area Episcopalians worshiped at Brownsville beginning in 1851. The first services in San Benito were organized by citizens such as Nettie G. King and Will Hinkly whenever a minister and space could be found. The retired Rev. William Henry Morrison first held services in the King building and in the early Methodist Church as well as other locations. Early church groups included the choir, the Altar Guild and the Ladies' Guild. Church women worked to raise money for a building, which was completed on this site in 1912. Heavily damaged by a storm in 1933, the church was rebuilt in 1935. The parish hall was used frequently for civic and social occasions from the 1950s. All Saints' Episcopal Church continues in the traditions of its founders. (2000) #12337
499 N. Reagan, San Benito, TX, United States
Texas Historical Marker #16022
Getsemani Presbyterian Church. In the first decade of the 20th century, a number of immigrants came from Mexico and settled in the newly founded town of San Benito. Among these immigrants were individuals who followed the prinicples of the Presbyterian Church of Mexico. In 1911, Presbyterian families in San Benito organized the Mexican Presbyterian Church of San Benito. Anne E. Dysart, a missionary and teacher who evacuated Mexico during the country's revolution, led Sunday services and opened a school. The congregation officially dedicated the church on October 19, 1911. By 1912, the congregation gathered funds to purchase a lot at the corner of Biddle and Hull Streets to build their first church building. In 1917, the church reorganized and in 1919, it became a member of the Presbyterian Church of the U.S.A. That same year, the congregation moved their buildings to 140 Diaz Street. As the years passed, the congregation became largely English-speaking; to reflect the shift, the church changed names to 2nd Presbyterian Church in 1961. In 1979, the members renamed it Getsemani Presbyterian Church. The Getsemani congregation has a long history of aiding the community. The church has hosted the Texas Migrant Council's community center, run a food bank and a clothes closet, functioned as an emergency distribution center, offered English classes, and set up a benevolent fund for the indigent. The congregation has also focused strongly on area outreach, opening missions in Harlingen, Las Flores and El Fresnal. Today, Getsemani Presbyterian Church continues to be a spiritual leader in the San Benito community. #16022
140 Diaz Street, San Benito, TX, United States
Texas Historical Marker #04528
San Benito Post Office. At the time the local community was granted its first post office in April 1907 it was known as Diaz. Because another town in Texas had previously been awarded the name Diaz by postal officials, the name of this post office was changed to San Benito later that year. Colonel Samuel A. Robertson served as first Postmaster and Emma (Purvis) Agar became the first of several women postal clerks to serve in San Benito. Municipal delivery began in 1925 along two routes. The post office operated from several locations in San Benito until relocating in 1933 to an impressive Federal office building newly constructed here on park land donated by the city. The post office opened on April 16, 1933, the day after an estimated 3,000 people attended an open house to inspect the building. Also housed in the Federal building at the time of its opening were offices of the International Boundary Commission, the U.S. Departments of Agriculture and Immigration, and the U.S. Civil Service Commission. The post office served as a social gathering place for many people in the community. San Benito Post Office currently serves San Benito and the surrounding towns of Los Indios, Blue Town, Arroyo City, Lozano, Las Yescas, Laurles, La Paloma, El Ranchito, and Rio Hondo. #4528
417 N. Sam Houston, San Benito, TX, United States
Texas Historical Marker #00050
A.C. Purvis House. San Benito was a "paper" town with no Anglo-American residents when Albanus Clemens Purvis (1850-1919) came here from Ohio to seek health. He became first Justice of the Peace, sold real estate, and farmed. His daughter Kate (later Mrs. J. Scott Brown) taught first school in 1907; daughter Emma (later Mrs. Asa Agar) was an early Postmaster, in 1911. A former mill owner and a skilled craftsman, Purvis in 1911 built this house for himself, his wife Margaret Ann (householder), and the two youngest of their nine children. The property still remains in the ownership of a descendant. (1974) #50
441 N. Reagan, San Benito, TX, United States
Texas Historical Marker #05010
Spiderweb Railroad. Col. Sam A. Robertson, who founded the town of San Benito in 1907, promoted and built the San Benito & Rio Grande Valley Railway. It was designed to provide a more accessible and efficient transportation system for the shipping of area farm products. Because of the railroad's intricate network of lines and spurs, it was commonly known as the Spiderweb Railroad. The first phase of the rail line were begun in 1911 under the supervision of Col. Robertson's brother Frank S. Robertson. Construction of the feeder rail lines brought trackside loading facilities to the remote farming areas of the valley and assured the continuing development of brushland into irrigated farms. Trains carrying freight and passengers were soon making two round trips daily over routes that eventually stretched 128 miles. For many years the Spiderweb remained essential to the valley's development as one of the leading agricultural regions of the nation. Traffic on the line declined, however, because of improved roads, motor transportation and more centralized loading facilities. Today the history of the line serves as a reminder of the pioneer farmers and businessmen who were instrumental in the area's early growth. #5010
?, San Benito, TX, United States