Pharr San Juan Alamo High School - Bear Memories Yearbook (Alamo, TX)

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Qs 1 5 PORTER. A CAPS MILLER EI 1

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Ml J L STAMBAUGH H1 h School Principal MISS RUTH WALKER Dean of Girls.

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Tue! 6 GILNERAL INFORMATION LOCATION AND HISTORN OF SCHOOL Although there were a few whrte famllres lrvmg rn the Lower RIO Grande Valley forty or flfty years ago nevertheless rt has leen only fourteen or fifteen years srnce the real settlement of the Valley began Smce that time the country has developed from a sparsely settled wllderness mto a very populous drstrlct thickly dotted with thrrvlng towns Grass trees flowers and all kinds of fruits ve etables and agrrcultural products are grow lng everywhere S hools churches and ot er lnstltutlons which mark the pro gress of crvlllzatron and culture have come mto exlstence Ioday thrs section of the country not only compares favorably with other scctrons whlch have been settled much longer but even excels them rn many respects There are reasons for thls raprd development The unusual fertrllty of the sorl IS a large factor and the splendid rrrxgatron system rn operatron msures a plentrful supply of molsture at any and all times Almost any agricultural product may be grown 1n the valley These products excel rn quantrty per ac e qualrty and rn early yield those of most other sectrons Corn rs produced rn great quantrtres Cotton broomcorn and other crops are grown profitably There are many truck farms vegetables and all sorts of frults can be grown but the oranges and grape frult rn partrcular have made the Valley famous Last year at the Natronal Farr the crtrus frurts from the Valley were glven first second and third places ranlung above those from Florrda and Calrforma The elrmate IS equitable no extremes of temperature occurrmg at one trme durmg the year The summer temperature never reaches the extreme helght which It does 1n sections farther north and the nights are always cool and pleasant This rs accounted for by the nearness of the gulf And rt would be hard to hnd a sectxon of country whrch IS more healthful than the Valley The land companies have played no small part rn the settlement and development of the Valley It has always been to their mterest to find the favorable condltlons and pomt them out to the people elsewhere And where unfavorable condltlons have existed they have looked for possrbrlrtles and by developing these posslbrlrtles they have rendered favorable what had been unfavorable Some one mdrvrdual or group of lndrvrduals ln years past had a vlslon of what the wrlderness along the Rio Grande mrght become some day rn the hands of enlrghtened and progresslve people ust what the motrve of thrs lndrvrdual or group of mdrvlduals was we do not know and we dare not say but that rt has led to the realrzatron of a beautiful dream we cannot deny And today we have the Maglc Valley At one tlme there were eighteen or twenty land companies 1n operation ln the Valley at the same trme The first tract of land sold for settlement 1n the Lower RIO Grande Valley was bought for seventy five cents to one dollar per acre That was not many years ago Wlthrn a few short years the same land has mcreased rn value untrl now ll may l:e sold for hundreds of dollars per acre some of rt for even thousands Pharr and San juan are two very progressrve towns about one and one half mules apart situated In the heart of this wonderful valley They are rn Hldalgo County about srxty mules northwest of Brownsville , . ' , . ' : , , ' , . ' 1 l , , . . ' . ' . 17 ' ,' . . . . C , My K 5, - - - , - . - , . , . I , U I , . . - ' I of garden produce may be obtained during almost any season of the year. All kinds , Y ' I . x V I . . , ' ' U