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History
in a Pecan Shell
The land dates back to the 1750s when it was part of a Spanish land
grant administered by Jose Escandon. Escandon was responsible for
establishing missions throughout the area to keep the French from
colonizing the area.
Alice would be the first entry in a long list of towns, cities and
counties named after King-Kleberg relatives and friends. Alice was
the daughter of Richard and Henrietta King and the County was named
after the family lawyer, James Wells.
In the late Nineteenth Century, two railroads intersected at Alice,
making it the busiest shipping point in the world for beef.
Alice has retained some of the petroleum business that made the whole
area boom in the 1930s.
Downtown Alice retains some of it's former dignity - although several
buildings seem to have been closed for years. A few buildings reveal
their age - while others have been sheathed in plywood and aluminum.
One of them - the Texas State Bank of Alice - was involved with improprieties
concerning George Parr of neighboring Duval
County - the infamous "Duke of Duval". |
Historical Marker
401 East 2nd Street, Alice
Alice
In the 1880s, when
the lines of the Corpus Christi, San Diego, and Rio Grande and the
San Antonio and Aransas Pass railroads intersected, a new townsite
was platted at the junction in what was then Nueces
County. First called Bandana and then Kleberg, the
town was finally named Alice (for Alice King Kleberg) when a post
office was granted in 1888. Homes, business, schools, in south
Texas were headquartered in Alice. P. A. Presnall was elected
the first mayor in 1904. Alice became the county seat of newly created
Jim Wells County
in 1911.
(1988) |
Alice, Texas
Landmarks & Attractions
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Texas State Bank
Building
Photo courtesy Terry
Jeanson, July 2010 |
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Texas Star
Texas State Bank Architectural Details
Photo
courtesy Terry
Jeanson, July 2010
|
Photographer's
Note:
"According to the alicetx.org website, the water tower, completed
in 1927, is the world's tallest cement water tower at 165 feet tall.
On May 21, 2007, a plaque at the bottom of
the tower was dedicated in memory of Jose Angel De Leon who fell to
his death during the construction of the tower on May 21, 1927."
- Terry
Jeanson, July 2010 |
R - A recent
statue to Jose de Escandon y Elguera
TE photo |
Alice Texas
Forum
Subject: A Ghost
Hitchiker
I have a Ghost Story for you.
There is a story of a man dressed in Army fatigues hitchhiking by
the overpass (going into Alice from Orange Grove). The story is if
you are going through the overpass at midnight and you see the hitch
hiker dressed in army fatigues, (he is trying to get home from the
war) you better stop and pick him up because if you don't he will
appear in your back seat.
I was a Senior from Orange Grove Tx. It was the summer of 1984. ..
next
page - Melisa Sammons, August 04, 2005 |
Jim
Wells County 1920s map
From Texas state map #10749
Courtesy
Texas General Land Office |
| Texas
Escapes, in its purpose to preserve historic, endangered and vanishing
Texas, asks that anyone wishing to share their local history, stories,
landmarks and recent or vintage photos, please contact
us. |
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