Falcon, Texas - New Falcon, Old Falcon and Falcon Reservoir, Zapata County. (original) (raw)
Falcon Reservoir - Old Falcon was submerged
Photo courtesy TXDoT
History in a Pecan Shell
Old Falcon
Col. Jos� de Escand�n of Spain escorted the first Europeans here in the 1750s. The original community had been where Medio Creek joined the Rio Grande. The king of Spain granted over 6,000 acres of land to the original grantee Jos� Clemente Guti�rrez. He sold it to Jos� Clemente Ram�rez and when Ram�rez married Margarita de la Garza Falc�n, it created a partnership of the region's most powerful families. Several small villages came into being - many of them formed by expanding families.
In the early 1900s Ildefonso Ram�rez opened a general store at the site and a post office was granted in 1915 under the name of Falcon. There had been an existing post office named Ramire�o, a few miles away.
When a dam was planned here to alleviate a six year drought in the early 1950s, Old Falcon consisted of about 12 acres - with four acres fronting the river. There was an offer to relocate families to the county seat of Zapata, but many of the residents were direct descendants of the original owners and balked at resettlement.
The government went ahead with its plan prior to paying compensation and closed the dam. Everyone was expecting the drought to continue. There was time to settle matters - so everyone thought. But in August of 1953, heavy rains fell and the water rose faster than residents could evacuate. Old Falcon was submerged.
The people left with little more than they could carry and the town was inundated. In an emergency action, a woman named Rafaela Ramos de Serna parceled out fifty acres of her land, selling the lots for a mere $100 each.
The government then refused to pay full price for the now-flooded properties.
New (but not necessarily improved) Falcon
"New Falcon" today has residents situated on several curbed and paved streets with several stores and other businesses.
The government had decided on a specific site to relocate the former cemetery plots, but mistrust of the government led to each affected village to buy their own gravesites. One hundred and fifty graves from the inundated Falcon cemetery were moved.
Cormorants in Falcon Reservoir
Photo courtesy TXDoT
See Birds in Texas
Falcon Reservoir
Photo courtesy TXDoT
The 1901 Zapata County Courthouse now under Falcon Reservoir
Click on image to enlarge
1939 photo courtesy TXDoT
Falcon - near Starr / Zapata county line
(From 1940 Texas state map #4335 showing Zapata County)
Courtesy Texas General Land Office
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