Historical overview by Jose Cazares
The James-Dickinson Company was one of the pioneer development companies of the Lower Rio Grande Valley. The great growth of the Rio Grande Valley is the materialization of the visions of Lee B. James and A.D. Dickinson partners in the company which bears their names.
The company began in Mission, TX in 1910 and developed land that was known as the " Conway Gardens" at Mission. Their next project was the " Palm Gardens at Mercedes" and the settling of the land by the American Rio Grande Land and Irrigation company several miles west of Mercedes.
In 1919 the James-Dickinson Company came to Brownsville and developed 22,000 acres of which had been laid out in tracts varying in size from homesites to wholesale farming plans. What the " El Jardin" community is today in East Brownsville by the airport.
In 1925, the James-Dickinson company signed a contract along with J.M. Nix of San Antonio to build Brownsville's finest Tourist hotel known as "Hotel El Jardin."
In 1927, the newest project under development by the James-Dickinson Company was a tract of fertile land across a resaca known as " Los Ebanos," which took its name from the profusion of beautiful ebony trees growing all over the subdivision. This new subdivision in Brownsville was its first Master-Planned community, it was one of the finest home districts in the entire Valley. A gateway to the subdivision was built on Palm Boulevard, it was built using vari-colored stones, with blue tile roof and a copper name plate.
In 1926, a fourteen-foot picture, a painters conception of Brownsville, was painted for the James-Dickinson Company. The picture was of the Brownsville proper and also of Los Ebanos, the proposed restricted residential subdivision at the north end of Palm Boulevard. At each end of the picture was another smaller picture, one showing the proposed ornamental entrance to Los Ebanos, the other a home to be erected in the section, the artist who painted the picture was J.H. Hansen and the plans for Los Ebanos were made by W.D. Van Siclen.
The picture once hung in the lounge of the Hotel El Jardin when it opened.
This is an advertisement of the Los Ebanos subdivision in the Houston Chronicle in October 1926, showing a conceptual drawing of the Los Ebanos Gate entrance and a map of the subdivision.
The company began in Mission, TX in 1910 and developed land that was known as the " Conway Gardens" at Mission. Their next project was the " Palm Gardens at Mercedes" and the settling of the land by the American Rio Grande Land and Irrigation company several miles west of Mercedes.
In 1919 the James-Dickinson Company came to Brownsville and developed 22,000 acres of which had been laid out in tracts varying in size from homesites to wholesale farming plans. What the " El Jardin" community is today in East Brownsville by the airport.
In 1925, the James-Dickinson company signed a contract along with J.M. Nix of San Antonio to build Brownsville's finest Tourist hotel known as "Hotel El Jardin."
In 1927, the newest project under development by the James-Dickinson Company was a tract of fertile land across a resaca known as " Los Ebanos," which took its name from the profusion of beautiful ebony trees growing all over the subdivision. This new subdivision in Brownsville was its first Master-Planned community, it was one of the finest home districts in the entire Valley. A gateway to the subdivision was built on Palm Boulevard, it was built using vari-colored stones, with blue tile roof and a copper name plate.
The picture once hung in the lounge of the Hotel El Jardin when it opened.
The Gate that once stood on Palm Boulevard at the entrance to the Los Ebanos subdivision. It was a double carriage way, separated by a central esplanade, which had rows of Washingtonian palms and Bougainvillea. The Gate was removed in the 1950's.
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(Updated 7/16/2017)
original text: So didja know at one time Palm Blvd was known simply as "The Boulevard"? Not only that but there was a large entryway made of round stones and wood. You can still see a piece of what's left of it and according to the ol' timers there was also a sign at the entrance warning Mexicans not to enter unless they were gardeners or housekeepers. I don't know if that's true but if it is I'm sure glad times have changed.
1927 ~ was Los Ebanos a privately developed subdivision with a racial restrictive covenant? If so it was short lived.
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