San Benito, Texas
Population: 25,000
Located in Cameron County
The city of Brownsville is Texas' southernmost, international seaport and the largest city in the lower Rio Grande Valley. Brownsville's location is about 25 miles inland from the Gulf of Mexico at an elevation of approximately 33 feet above sea level. It is adjacent to Mexico and its sister city, Matamoros, Tamaulipas. The sandy beaches of South Padre Island offers a resort community with all that it implies. Boca Chica Beach offers a natural unspoiled area that is better suited for fishermen and campers who enjoy back to nature surroundings. With an average temperature of 74 degrees and a day filled with sunshine, and abundance of outdoor activities are available. Temperatures during the summer daytime are in the 90's, and winters typically go by without any temperature below 32. The average temperature for the coldest month of the year, January, is a chilly 63 degrees. San Benito, Texas, is known as the "Resaca City." A picturesque resaca, four hundred feet wide, flows through the city. As indicated by its Spanish name, the resaca was a dry river bed. It is now the main canal of a large irrigation system.San Benito was at first named "Diaz" in honor of Porfirio Diaz, president of México at that time. The people in the San Benito area were predominantly of Mexican ancestry. The Anglo settlers came after the completion of the first irrigation system in 1906. Prior to that time this region was an arid, mesquite-cactus-brush covered wilderness. Irrigation water touched off the crop production magic in the railroad. On July 4, 1904, the first passenger train arrived at Diaz. Overjoyed with the coming of the new railroad, the community leaders renamed the railroad station "Bessie," in honor of Bessie Yoakum. Her father, B.F. Yoakum, was instrumental in the construction of the railroad. Some time later, when the townsite was surveyed, the name was changed to "San Benito" in honor of Benjamin Hicks. He was a pioneer ranchman whose charitable attitude endeared him to the population. The name was suggested by Rafael Moreno, the popular 90 year old camp cook of the surveying party. Moreno suggested the name "San Benito" for his beloved "Saint Benjamin" Hicks. San Benito was a village with quite a number of homes, businesses, churches, and public schools several years before they were incorporated in 1911. The original map of the townsite was recorded April 28, 1907. The first school was established in 1907 with 48 pupils and Miss Kate Purvis as the teacher. The Post Office was also opened in 1907. In 1927 the city adopted a Commission form of government operating under a Home Rule Charter. In 1920, when the city was included in the U.S. Census count for the first time, San Benito had become a thriving city of 4,070 people. By 1950 the census count was 13,271. In 1960 the population had grown to 16,422. The present population is estimated at 26,350. The irrigation district was organized in 1906. As a result of the availability of irrigation water San Benito and all of the Lower Rio Grande Valley cities came into being to serve a newly developing agriculture empire. The original townsite, created in 1911, contained 1,280 acres. Since then a series of annexations have increased the incorporated area to 4,092.17 acres. The mild winter climate in southmost section of the United States has played a dominant role in the growth of San Benito and the other cities of the Lower Rio Grande Valley. Crops grow and flowers bloom the year round. The city has become a mecca for winter tourists and retired people, providing a substantial percentage of the buying power of this community.
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