Local historians, Magda Flores and Gary Williams, will guide you through La Isla just south of Fabens, Texas. You will visit the cemetery and the church and learn about their histories. You will see the village of La Isla and learn about its Mexican roots, early history, and the evolution of the area, its notable farmers and families. You will drive through the area and get a general introduction to this farming community, its early settlers and farmers. You will get a general introduction to the farming community of historic La Isla, and learn about notable farmers who lived in the area.
Plan to meet at the San Eli Supermarket, 1330 Fabens Road. (MAP) Take the Fabens Road exit, Exit 49, off of I-10. As you enter Fabens the Supermarket will be on your left, across from a McDonalds.
“When Mexico became independent in 1821 a chain of six towns in the El Paso area situated from three to five miles apart stretched along the southern bank of the Rio Grande. In the early 1830s the capricious river formed a new channel south of the old one, thus placing three of them-Ysleta, Socorro, and San Elizario-on an island some twenty miles in length and two to four miles in width. For the remainder of the Mexican period this area was called La Isla, “the Island.” The Rio Grande continued to flow primarily through its new channel, and by 1848, when the river became the boundary between the United States and Mexico, water had ceased to flow in the Río Viejo, or old riverbed.” For more information, visit https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/la-isla
Organizer
