Minnie May Nickel Homestead

Duane's take

Now, this one comes straight from the official marker, and I'm just the one putting voice to it. Pull up a chair, because this story starts before a town even had a name. Somewhere in the lower Rio Grande Valley, there stands a two-story house, and nobody knows exactly when it was built.

That right there ought to tell you something. The exact date of construction is unknown. Local records suggest it may have gone up as part of a twenty-acre tract circa 1909.

Nineteen-oh-nine. The town of Weslaco didn't exist yet. Mercedes and Donna were the ones developing out that way, and this house just sat there, patient as the land itself, waiting for the rest of the story to catch up.

In April of 1913, the American Rio Grande Land and Irrigation Company came through, surveyed the area, and platted the west tract subdivision. Things were starting to take shape out here. Then, in 1919, the W.E.

Stewart Land Company developed the townsite of Weslaco. And at that time, this house was still sitting outside the city limits. Outside.

The town grew up around it, not the other way around. Now, a man named Benjamin Franklin Yoakum had ideas about this valley. He wanted to encourage farming down in the Rio Grande, and he was out there promoting the Weslaco townsite to families clear up in the midwestern United States.

Ohio is a long way from the Texas brush country, but one of those midwesterners listened. An Ohio native by the name of Minnie May Nickel bought the property in October of 1919. And in the records that followed, she is listed as one of the area's few female farmers and as a head of household.

In the founding days of a brand new town, that is not a small thing to be noted. The property changed hands several times in the years that followed, and it became home to many of Weslaco's founding and early families. E.G. and Fannie Kennedy lived there.

So did Harry L. Stebbins, who was both an architect and a realtor. Educators Floyd and Alice McConnell called it home.

Charles and Ella Woolf, too. Names that trace the roots of a community still finding its footing. In the nineteen twenties, under the ownership of Ewing and Lena C.

Clark, the house was modified. A bedroom was added. A porte-cochere went up over the brick driveway.

Other additions followed. The house kept growing, kept absorbing the lives being lived inside it. And the house itself is something to look at.

Two stories. An American foursquare floor plan dressed up in Spanish Revival styling. Stucco walls.

Arched entries. Terraced roofs. Out back, or nearby, there's a single-room carriage house built of similar construction to the main house.

A little echo of the big one. Built before a town existed. Outlasted the uncertainty of its own origins.

The Minnie May Nickel Homestead didn't wait for Weslaco to come along. Weslaco came along and found it already there.

What the marker says

The exact date of construction of this house is unknown. Local records suggest it may have been built as part of a 20-acre tract circa 1909, predating Weslaco as the neighboring towns of Mercedes and Donna were developing. In April 1913, the American Rio Grande Land and Irrigation Company surveyed and platted the west tract subdivision in this area. The W.E. Stewart Land Company developed the townsite of Weslaco in 1919. At that time, this house was outside the city limits. Benjamin Franklin Yoakum sought to encourage farming in the Rio Grande Valley and promoted development of the Weslaco townsite to families in the midwestern United States. Ohio native Minnie May Nickel bought the property in October 1919. In subsequent records she is listed as one of the area's few female farmers as a head of household. The property changed hands several times in the following years and was home to many of Weslaco's founding or early families. These have included E.G. and Fannie Kennedy, architect and realtor Harry L. Stebbins, educators Floyd and Alice McConnell, and Charles and Ella Woolf. The two-story home exhibits an American foursquare floor plan with Spanish Revival styling, including stucco walls, arched entries and terraced roofs. Under the ownership of Ewing and Lena C. Clark in the 1920s, the house was modified to include a bedroom and porte-cochere over the brick driveway and other additions. Other historic resources of the property include a single-room carriage house built of similar construction to the main house. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 2020