© City of Los Fresnos 200 N. Brazil St., Los Fresnos TX. 78566 Phone: (956) 233-5768 Fax: (956) 233-9879

About the City

The area which is now home to present day Los Fresnos is not unknown to history. In fact this area along the Rio Grande River and the Gulf of Mexico played a significant role in both the US-Mexican War and the American Civil War. The plain of Palo Alto (tall timber) just five miles South of town was the site of the opening battle of the war between the U.S. and Mexico in 1846. Years later, Palmito Ranch located just South East of town was the site of the last battle of the Civil War, after most Confederate armies had already surrendered in 1865.

The Palo Alto Battlefield National Historic Site operated by the National Park Service and several state and national historic markers commemorate the locations of these historic sites today. With this area having served primarily has ranch land for centuries, a ranch called Los Fresnos (ash trees) is said to have occupied a site as early as 1770 near where Los Fresnos exists today. After the U.S.-Mexican War, the four tiny communities of Los Cuates, Charco Hondo, Tres Norias, and Agua Negra were merged to form much of the town of Los Fresnos as it stands today. The promise of railroad development in this area in the early 1900s brought trainloads of land speculators into South Texas. In 1907 Lon C. Hill, Jr. bought 14,232 acres and parceled them into lots. This eventually evolved into the layout of the original town site of “modern” Los Fresnos which was finally developed in 1915. Settlers, mostly farmers, were lured into the area from mid-western states. This new influx of people led to a diversification of land use in what had been almost exclusively ranch land. A post office was granted in 1919, although it closed its doors a mere three years later. With the actual arrival of the railroad in 1927 the post office was reopened in 1929 when the community had nearly 400 residents. From 1939 to 1944 the population remained at 475, growing to 1,113 in a post war boom.

Throughout this time Los Fresnos was primarily a farming community, gradually increasing it population to 1,500 by the mid 1960s. The population steadily increased over the following decades to the present day to number well over 5,000 within the actual city limits and to over 16,000 encompassing all the adjacent communities. With new real estate developments utilizing much of the surrounding farm land, the crop of the future for this area is housing. Given this history and Los Fresnos’ proximity to the United States border with Mexico it should not be a surprise to learn that Los Fresnos is a magnificent mixture of people and cultures. Today, Los Fresnos’ population is roughly 84% Hispanic, 14% white non-Hispanic, and 2% of a variety of other backgrounds that add their unique influence on the community. Los Fresnos, part cow town, part farm community, very Texan, always a vibrant All-American city!