McCook Community

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll pass it along just as it stands. There's a community out in Hidalgo County called McCook, and the story behind it reaches back a good long way before anybody broke a single acre of that brush land. See, the people who settled McCook were descendants of the pioneers who, in 1854, founded Panna Maria, Texas.

That's the oldest Polish colony in the United States. The roots run deep. So when folks finally pushed south into this part of the Valley, they weren't starting from nothing.

They were carrying generations of grit with them. The first move came in 1925, when Urban Kotzur, his son Leon, and their neighbor Frank Prukop bought land in the area. Now somebody had to go first, and that somebody was the Kotzur family.

They moved in 1926, setting up in country that was still mostly brush, still mostly wild, still very much asking something of anyone who tried to stay. Soon enough, other families arrived. And the work that followed was exactly what you'd expect from people with that kind of heritage.

They cleared the brush land. They began cultivation. They built something.

A post office came along and served the community for several years during the 1930s. A school was started in 1929. And in 1950, Immaculate Conception Catholic Church was built, which tells you all you need to know about what held this community together.

The community itself is named for a local storekeeper, which means even the name of the place is a nod to ordinary people doing ordinary work in extraordinary country. That's McCook. Descended from founders, built by neighbors, and still standing out there in Hidalgo County.

What the marker says

Named for a local storekeeper, this community was settled by descendants of the pioneers who in 1854 founded Panna Maria, Texas, the oldest Polish colony in the United States. Urban Kotzur, his son Leon, and their neighbor Frank Prukop bought land in this area in 1925 and the Kotzur family was the first to move here in 1926. Soon other families arrived to clear the brush land and begin cultivation. The farming village had a post office for several years during the 1930s. A school was started in 1929, and Immaculate Conception Catholic Church was built in 1950. (1979)