Weslaco Texas – History Museum & Border Wall

A few days ago, on my birthday, we were looking for something to do outside the park. There are so many activities at our park that there is not much need to leave. But, it was my birthday and we wanted to go have lunch. So, I thought of what we could do here locally. There are a few shooting ranges, a movie theater, tons of shopping, and a small museum in the next door town of Weslaco. So off we went…

Weslaco Museum

After a sub-par lunch at the Blue Onion, we drove a couple of miles to downtown Weslaco to see the history museum. The Blue Onion was very good the last visit. I hate inconsistency. This place is now off the list.

The museum was very interesting and to make it even better, we met their Executive Director, a very nice lady named Sheila. The museum does a good job in providing the history of this small town and surrounding area. A brief history of the area from wikipedia:

The 2016 estimated population was 40,033 and it is located at the southern tip of Texas in the Rio Grande Valley near the Mexican border, across the Rio Grande from the city of Nuevo Progreso, Rio Bravo, Tamaulipas.

Weslaco derives its name from the W.E. Stewart Land Company. It was the hometown of Harlon Block, one of the Marines photographed raising the flag at Iwo Jima, and of film and television actor David Spielberg.

Streets north of the railroad tracks have Spanish names, and streets south of the railroad tracks bear names in English, as a consequence of a 1921 municipal ordinance which declared that land north of the tracks be reserved for Hispanic residences and businesses, and land south of the tracks be reserved for “Anglo” residences and businesses. During World War II, sandbag production reached a peak in Weslaco, and the town declared itself the “sandbagging capital of the world”.

Conversation with a Local

I will usually try to start some conversation with the local people to get their perspective on the border issues and the Wall. We had a most interesting chat with the museum director. She had been a missionary to Mexico for 20 years, then moved to this area about 10 years ago when the Mexican crime became too bad. She had worked as a nurse at the local hospital for the last 10 years before just coming to the museum position.

Along with her son, they own a nice coffee shop just down the street. Her thoughts on the wall were heavily influenced by what she sees everyday and talking to the deputies and border patrol agents who stop in the coffee shop.

She feels strongly that the wall needs to be completed in this area of Texas. Every one of the border patrol agents are demanding the wall due to the daily drug smugglers flowing through all the gaps in the current “fencing.” The border guys do not have the resources to stop them all. The bad ones are either bringing drugs or are human traffickers.

Well, there is another bit of local evidence and proof that the wall is not some manufactured crisis. We mistakenly said we were from Virginia and that started a discussion about the current state leadership. Boy oh boy. Maybe I’ll just tell people that I’m from Indiana, which we were both born there. Virginia has a real mess on its hands. Nuff said.

After the museum, we walked around downtown Weslaco and then had a great coffee pour over at the coffee shop owned by Sheila. That wraps up this birthday blog post. Not really that exciting, but exactly the way I like it!

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