Merchants and Planters Rice Milling Co Photos

A compilation of photos; not a history

The following is a collection of images to assist the reader in identifying photos taken in the vicinity of what was once the Rio Grande Railroad yard and specifically, the old rice mill that once occupied the space that is now home to Cameron County Clerk Administration and related courtrooms and offices.  The maps to follow should prove useful to placing the area as it was and now stands.

1904 Photo showing the Merchants and Planters Rice Milling Co.  It closed about three years after opening.  Rice farming proved to be a failed venture in the region.  As Harlingen historian Norman Rozeff explains in "P.E. Blalack, A Man of Mystery" that rice farming necessitates the irrigation of "tremendous amounts of water placed on the land [which] raised water tables and brought subsurface salts to the surface" as was found to be the case at Hill's Rincon farm (5-6 miles north of Brownsville).

Early 1900s phot of the rice mill by Robert Runyon with identifying labels.

Two merged photos for a wider view of Washington Park with the rice mill seen in the distance.  

On top is a Sanborn map and below it a Google map to show distance of three city blocks from park to mill.

Again we use the Sanborn map juxtaposed with a Google map to view the area of space taken by the rice mill versus the county building.  

Three views of Robert Runyon photos showing building likely after it had closed.  The bottom photo shows Ft Brown army soldier tents which is unusual and without record as to the purpose of their being there rather than the Ft Brown property.  

It is also unknown who owned the building and rented its spaces.  The author can recall a few instance where the rice mill was casually referenced as a place where gambling took place during the evening hours which was probably where some railroad workers nearby spent some of their wages hoping to get lucky.  One instance is alluded to but barley raises suspicion as to actual activities which occurred there after hours in a report which begins on page 3184 in "Affray at Brownsville, Texas" that reference the area as being where "lewd women lived."  There was also another report from the Brownsville Herald which involved the shooting of a boy who shot after trying to escape with others after a raid by Sheriff's deputies.  A revision of this article will include a reference if it can be found.

Ft Brown soldiers on top of a rail car some distance from the rice mill building.

A boy, a donkey and Ft Brown soldiers with mill in the background.

The rice mill was still there in 1929 when this aerial photo was taken by pilot Les Mauldin.  Sanborn maps reveal that the rice mill warehouse section was used as auto storage and warehousing for Borderland Furniture Co and Edelstein Furniture Co.  Photo (in part) courtesy of Junie Mauldin.

This 1933 photo shows the aftermath of a hurricane that destroyed the old mill.  John R. PeaveyScrapbook, UTRGV Digital Library, The University of Texas – Rio Grande Valley

This isn't a pictorial history and very little research was done to gather information to tell the story of the rice mill that lasted only a short while.  The following is what was gleaned by a casual internet search for resources.  If the topic is of interest, feel free to follow the leads for yourself.  

Some online resources and additional info:

Affray at Brownsville, Texas – Hearings Before the Committee on Military Affairs, United States Senate Concerning The Affray at Brownsville, Texas on the Night of August 13 and 14, 1906 Volume 3.  Washington Government Printing Office 1907.

The Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, The University of Texas at Austin,   Runyon (Robert) Photograph Collection.  Photos of a Sugar Mill and Brownsville, Texas can be found here.

John R. Peavey Scrapbook, UTRGV Digital Library, The University of Texas – Rio Grande Valley

A Field Guide to Irrigation in the LowerRio Grande Valley by Lila Knight

Foscue, Edwin J. “Land Utilization in the Lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas.” Economic Geography, vol. 8, no. 1, 1932, pp. 1–11. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/140467. Accessed 4 July 2021.