Get to know McAllen, TX

The city of Palms is located at the southern tip of Texas in the Rio Grande Valley.  In 1904, the Hidalgo and San Miguel Extension, now the Sam Fordyce Branch, of the St. Louis, Brownsville and Mexico Railway reached the Santa Anita Ranch.  John McAllen donated land to the railroad to guarantee it would come through the area, and the new community that sprang up was named after McAllen.  The town was incorporated in 1911 and saw a boom in the coming years as tens of thousands of troops were stationed in the town to help with border disturbances.  Oil exploration and other industries helped grow McAllen through the middle of twentieth century.  In 1941, a suspension bridge between McAllen and the Mexican town of Reynosa across the border helped increase tourism between the sister cities.  The city served as an agricultural, oil, and tourist center until the 1980s.  The growth of the maquiladora economy in the mid-1980s helped to boost McAllen’s economy following the devaluation of the peso.  Although initially centered around agriculture, the economy has shifted focused to international trade, health care, retail, and tourism, particularly since the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement.

Quick Facts

Population: 135,048

Median Household Income: $43,476

Median Property Value: $112,200