Aguilares Texas. (original) (raw)

Aguilar Brothers Merchantile Store
& Aquilares Post Office c. 1911
Photo Courtesy Pablo Garcia
More Texas Post Offices

History in a Pecan ShellAguilares dates from the 1870s and was named after first settlers and ranchers Jos�, Locario, Francisco, Pr�spero, and Librado Aguilar. It became a stop on the Texas-Mexican Railroad in 1881 and was granted a post office nine years later. The population (thought to be a huge exaggeration) was given as 1,500 in 1910 - but four years later it was reportedly a mere 300. The Aguilar family owned a store - one of the town's two businesses.

Oil was discovered nearby in Oilton and for a short time the town seemed to have a future - but although (or because) it was on a railroad - it lost population to the nearby county seat of Laredo. In the 1930s the post office was discontinued and in 1939 Aquilares' population was given as 10.

It rose to 25 by 1945 but the 1990 census again reported ten residents. Aguilares modest claim to fame was being the birthplace of television and movie character actor Pedro Gonzalez-Gonzalez.

Native Son

Pedro Gonzalez-Gonzalez
A Guy So Nice - They Named Him Twice

Almost literally "born in a trunk" - Pedro Gonzalez-Gonzalez entered the world in Aquilares, Texas (now considered a ghost town) in 1926. His mother was a dancer from Mexico and his father was a trumpet player from Floresville, Texas. Mrs. Gonzalez performed under the stage name "La Perla Fronteriza" (Pearl of the Frontier" and reportedly once danced for Francisco "Poncho" Villa and his troops during one or another of the Mexican Revolutions. ... more

Webb County 1920s map showing Aguilares east of Laredo
(Below "B" in "WEBB")
Courtesy Texas General Land Office

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