West Sharyland, Texas

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West Sharyland is a census-designated place (CDP) in Hidalgo County, Texas, United States.

1 Geography
2 Demographics
3 History
4 Development
5 Education
6 HVDC back-to-back station
7 Famous and Prominent Sharyland Residents
8 See also
9 External links

[edit] Geography

West Sharyland is located at 26°16′37″N, 98°20′18″W (26.276838, -98.338393)^GR1.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 6.0 km² (2.3 mi²), all land.

[edit] Demographics

As of the census^GR2 of 2000, there were 2,947 people, 676 households, and 648 families residing in the CDP. The population density was 492.6/km² (1,275.5/mi²). There were 743 housing units at an average density of 124.2/km² (321.6/mi²). The racial makeup of the CDP was 85.34% White, 0.03% African American, 0.07% Native American, 0.24% Pacific Islander, 13.98% from other races, and 0.34% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 98.10% of the population.

There were 676 households out of which 69.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 78.3% were married couples living together, 14.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 4.1% were non-families. 3.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 1.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 4.36 and the average family size was 4.44.

In the CDP the population was spread out with 42.3% under the age of 18, 12.5% from 18 to 24, 28.9% from 25 to 44, 12.3% from 45 to 64, and 3.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 22 years. For every 100 females there were 93.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.6 males.

The median income for a household in the CDP was $24,602, and the median income for a family was $24,393. Males had a median income of $17,283 versus $15,125 for females. The per capita income for the CDP was $8,383. About 31.5% of families and 30.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 36.0% of those under age 18 and 32.9% of those age 65 or over.

[edit] History

The area known today as Sharyland was originally part of a Spanish mission called La Lomita. Apart from the mission's farming operations, the surrounding area was sparsely inhabited or cultivated, although a few Mexican families lived in the region throughout the 19th Century. In the late 19th Century, several "Anglo" farmers relocated to deep south Texas and began ranching in the area. Around 1914, John H. Shary, originally from Corpus Christi, purchased most of these ranches and consolidated their land, renaming the area Sharyland.

John Shary cleared thousands of acres of mesquite and thick shrub, and in its place planted thousands of citrus trees. He developed an irrigation system for the area using water pumped in from the Rio Grande River, and encouraged both local and "relocated" farmers from further north to sublet 40 acre tracks and begin citrus farming. Shary later sold many small farms, particularly during the Depression when hundreds of prospective farmers moved to south Texas from hard-hit areas like the Texas Panhandle and Oklahoma. The resulting boom fueled the growth of a citrus industry (specializing in navel oranges and grapefruit) that would briefly rival the larger Florida and California industries in quantity and seriously challenge them in quality. In particular, Sharyland farmers developed the Ruby Red Grapefruit, varieties of which remain recognized as the highest-quality grapefruit produced in the United States.

The Sharyland citrus industry's heydey was in the 1950's and 1960's when thousands of trees dotted landscape and groves grew on every corner. Sharyland's farmers, rich and poor alike, constituted a close, interconnected community, and the area's leading families formed what some local historians have described (without any negative intent) as an "agricultural aristocracy." Demographic, economic, and climate changes led to the citrus industry's decline in the 1970's and 1980's, however. Many children of Sharyland's original farmers chose not to continue farming and moved into cities like McAllen, or to leave the Rio Grande Valley entirely. Sharyland's small farmers had an increasingly difficult time competing with the vast economies of scale that big California and Florida producers enjoyed. A series of hard freezes in the early 1980's killed many trees, and some older farmers chose not to replant.

Descendants of Sharyland's original farmers now share the subtropical area with increasing numbers of Mexican immigrants, creating both opportunities and challenges for the community's future.

[edit] Development

Today, Sharyland's citrus industry is smaller than it once was, and much of its open space is being lost to urban sprawl extending from McAllen[1]. This growth is largely a result of the economic changes spawned by the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) [2]).The still unincorporated "region" is also becoming popular as a bedroom community for middle class professionals working in McAllen and Mission. A 1998 Census Bureau study found that McAllen-Mission is the third fastest growing metropolitan area in the United States. Sharyland's once empty farmland between McAllen and Mission has allowed room to build at extremely low densities[3].

The Sharyland Plantation [4] subdivision, a 6,000-acre master planned community that includes tract housing as well as industrial and commercial venues, has shaped Sharyland's recent development. It includes more than 800 newly-constructed homes ranging from $130,000 to $1 million. Sharyland Plantation is home to many professionals with positions in management, design, engineering and shipping in American-owned "maquiladoras" on the Mexican side of the U. S.-Mexico border[5] The subdivision is marketed as luxury living. In November 2005, the McAllen Monitor newspaper reported that Sharyland's infrastructure was strained by its intense growth, and residents were complaining of foul smells that drift through the community from either maquiladoras or a nearby sewage lift station[6].

[edit] Education

The area is served by the Sharyland Independent School District.

[edit] HVDC back-to-back station

At present a back-to-back HVDC is under construction. It will operate with a bipolar voltage of 21 kV and allow a maximum power exchange between USA and Mexico of 150 MW. Inaugauration of this facility, which is built by ABB will be in 2007 [7].

[edit] Famous and Prominent Sharyland Residents

John H. Shary (1872-1945) Founder of Sharyland and the Rio Grande Valley citrus industry. His daughter, Mary Alice, married Texas Governor Allen Shivers.

John J. Conway (18??-1946) Purchased the land that would become Sharyland from the Catholic Church before selling much of it to John Shary. Conway played an instrumental role in developing an irrigation system for local farms, and founded the city of Mission Texas; much of unincorporated Sharyland actually lies within Mission's city limits.

Lloyd Bentsen (1921-2006) Born in Sharyland and graduated from Sharyland High School. Bentsen was a four-term Senator, vice-presidential candidate, and from 1993-94 served as Bill Clinton's Treasury Secretary.

William Jennings Bryan (1860-1925) Retired to Sharyland after his third unsuccessful run for the Presidency in 1908. Bryan and his wife remained in Sharyland until 1913 when President Woodrow Wilson made him Secretary of State. After leaving the cabinet in 1915, Bryan sold the "Bryan House" in Sharyland and moved to Florida. Bryan achieved his greatest fame shortly before his death when he squared off against Clarence Darrow in the famous "Scopes Trial," which tested whether evolution could be taught in the classroom.

Tom Landry (1924-2000) The Dallas Cowboys' legendary coach was born and grew up on a farm in Sharyland, although he is usually associated more with the city of Mission which claims him as its most famous native son.

F. D. McLain (1899-1980) Farmed citrus along Shary Road and the Three-mile line for more than forty years. McLain, a veteran of World War I, was president of the Sharyland School Board and longtime commander of the Sharyland chapter of the Veterans of Foreign Wars and the American Legion. One of his grandsons, David Schlaefer, is an American diplomat who oversaw the implementation of the United States' biometric visa program in northeast Mexico in the late 1990s.