Falfurrias

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Now, there are towns that just kind of happen, you know, one building here, a crossroads there, and before anybody noticed, folks are arguing about where to put the courthouse. And then there are towns that one man decided to will into existence.

Falfurrias, down in Brooks County, falls squarely in that second camp. The man in question was Edward C. Lasater, born in 1860, and he had a vision that most people would've called ambitious on a good day and flat-out foolish on a bad one.

Back in 1893, Lasater purchased land that included a village already going by the name Falfurrias. That name would stick. Then 1904 rolled around, and Lasater founded the place as a cattle shipping point.

That's when things got serious. When the San Antonio and Aransas Pass Railroad extended its lines out that way, Lasater didn't sit back and admire the tracks. He platted the present townsite.

He built a hotel. He built a general store. He put in water and power plants.

He put up a cotton gin. Now, you stop and count those on your fingers, and you realize this man was not taking a lunch break between projects. But he wasn't finished.

Lasater opened the area to truck farms, citrus farms, and dairy farms, reaching out and saying, come on down, there's something here for you. And then, in a move that folks in South Texas would talk about for a good long while, he founded the first creamery in all of South Texas, one that went on to become widely recognized. A post office came.

A newspaper came. Churches and schools opened their doors. And by 1914, a citrus packing plant had been built, adding another layer to what this stretch of South Texas could offer the world.

Lasater himself lived until 1930, long enough to see the town take on a life of its own. And the story didn't stop there. Still later, Falfurrias became a center for oil and gas production.

One man bought some land in 1893, and what grew up from it, well, the marker speaks for itself.

What the marker says

Founded as a cattle shipping point by Edward C. Lasater, 1904, town bears name of a village on land he purchased in 1893. When the San Antonio & Aransas Pass Railroad extended its lines, Lasater (1860-1930) platted present townsite, built a hotel, general store, water and power plants, and cotton gin. He opened area to truck, citrus, and dairy farms. He founded South Texas' first creamery--now widely recognized. A post office, newspaper, churches, and schools were opened. A citrus packing plant was built in 1914. Still later the city became an oil and gas production center. (1971)