Progreso

Duane's take

The official marker for Progreso, Hidalgo County, tells it this way, and I'm going to pass it right along to you. Now, settle in, because this story starts long before anyone around here was keeping close track of time. Back in 1766, a man named Juan Jose Hinojosa set foot on a stretch of South Texas land and decided it suited him just fine.

He put his livestock out to graze, and that was that. He claimed it, he worked it, he made it his. He went ahead and formally requested a Spanish land grant on that land in 1776, which is the kind of confidence you have to respect.

Here's the part that'll stay with you, though. Hinojosa never saw the paperwork come through. That grant was awarded posthumously, in 1790, after he was already gone.

The land outlasted the man, just as good land tends to do. For the better part of a century after that, the story of this place simmers quiet. Then 1896 rolls around, and the ranchers in the area go and obtain a United States post office.

They give it a name: Progreso. Not long after that post office opened its doors, commercial farming interests moved in and started large scale operations, first in sugar cane, and later in citrus groves. The character of the place was shifting.

By 1927, the Progreso Development Company had platted the townsite, drawing the lines that would hold a community. The town kept growing, steady and sure. And in 1991, the citizens of Progreso voted for incorporation, making it official.

From a Spanish land grant requested in 1776 to a vote in 1991, this place has been becoming itself for a very long time.

What the marker says

Land in this area was part of a Spanish land grant requested by Juan Jose Hinojosa in 1776 and awarded posthumously in 1790. Hinojosa had occupied the land and used it for livestock pasture since 1766. In 1896 ranchers in the area obtained a U.S. post office under the name Progreso. Soon thereafter commercial farming interests began large scale operations in growing sugar cane and, later, citrus groves. The Progreso Development Company platted the townsite in 1927. The town continued a steady period of growth, and citizens voted for incorporation in 1991. (1994)