Little Known Communities of the Lower Valley: Past and Present.

Several of theses communities in El Paso county incorporated expect Belen,because they was afraid  of annexation by El Paso .The Current status of some of theses communities are unknown.

Casey was incorporated was  in 1963.  It was east of Clint,included several farms. It had a active local government. The first mayor was Henry A. Beene and members of the first town council was; S.C. Rogers,Mrs S.C. Rogers,Constance Been,Glen Bland,Jeanette Rogers, and Jerry Rogers as Marshall. His wife,Mary Beene,served as alderman in 1967, and his daughter,Dovie Beene also served on the Town Council. In 1973, Mary Beene was elected the first woman mayor in El Paso County.  The Casey  Town government lasted longer then many of theses communities.

Algodones was incorporated in 1963. Algodones was located between Clint and Fabens. The town was made up of the farms of Daniel W. Conway,Eddie Wierhelm,Mike Maros. and Jesse Glover. Daniel W.Conway was the first mayor of the town . The Town Council of Alderman was composed of Eddie Wierhelm,Carol Wierhelm, Viola Conway,Hilda Grover, Jesse Grover, and Patricia Conway was the city clerk.

Conway came to the area in 1905,he planted  alfalfa,fruit,cotton, and other corps. He also served on the Fabens School Board. Grover a Arkansas native,who bought the Hearne farm on North Loop Road,East of Clint. Glover founded a farm Implement Company called J and H Sales with his wife, Hilda Grover. Mike Maros was a prominent cotton producer,he also served as president of the National Cotton Council and  served as President of the Fabens School Board. Glover ran for the Texas House of Representative in 1984 and 1988.

La Mesa was ,incorporated  was in 1959,it was two square miles of farm land, that included farms of Bills,Ellis,Neeley and Miller near Fabens. The first mayor was Richard Bills,who ran a farm with his mother, Jewel Ellis. J.T. Miller,Robert Ellis,Robert Bills, Grover Neeley, and A.R. Miller was the City Marshall.

San Agustin was  incorporated  in 1961,it was made up of  a farm owned by Leo R. Schuster. Schuster was the first mayor. The first town council composed of his wife, Winifred Schuster,Richard Schuster,Mrs Joan Schuster,Jack Clubb,Atanacio Herrera, and Virginia Clubb.

La Isla  was  Incorporated in 1959. This  La Isla can not be confused with another community of the same name which is also called Ia Isla,which is located near San Elizario and Fabens. This La Isla was a  big farm owned by wealthy contractor and farmer,Jerry MacGuire,who decided to incorporate for business purposes. He was the first mayor and the first town council was composed of his Betty Moor,Hugh Gibson, Carl Glaser,Jesus Sierra, and Pablo Chacon. Betty was the daughter of Lee Moor, a prominent farmer and contractor.

Buford  was located on the Buford road,might have been incorporated in 1962 and W.O. Collins was mayor.

Clint was Incorporated in 1974, it was often confused with Casey in the Texas Almanac. Brook Jones was the first mayor. Brook Jones was a grocer,his father Jeff Jones opened and ran a mercantile with Brooks Dalton. Jones served on the Clint School Board as did his father. Members of the first council was composed of William Herring,Juan Franco,Carlos Lopez, and Jesus Montes was the marshall.

Gail was Incorporated  in the 1960s, it was a farm,owned by Jim and Gail Surratt.

Belen was a small farming community on Buford near the railroad tracks.The first Socorro school house was located there and later became  a county school for African Americans. Buford Cotton gin,  was a farmer co-op that was opened there in 1928. Alfalfa and Cotton was raised in Belen. Dr C.C. Young made local newspapers for his experiment with the breeding of Lincoln and Karakules Lamb. Belen also had it own post office. Belen is part of Socorro. Water for farming was irrigated from the Franklin Canal.  Sheriff ,Seth Orndorff, and other members of the family owned land down there.Buford might have been named after, Seth,who middle name was Buford.

Ascarate was incorporated in 1947,the first mayor was Milton C. Tracy. The first town council  was composed of  W.A. Adams,J.N. Weems,George Nail,Arthur Horn, and Ramon Mendoza. Ramiro Aguilar served as city Marshall. The incorporation was abolished by the residents in 1949. El Paso annexed Ascarate  it in 1953.

Fabens was  incorporated in 1947,but  the Incorporation was abolished in 1931. The frist mayor was J.H. Marchbanks, V.H. Hunt,J.N. Hendricks,Dr. Y.H. Milam, C.M. Buchanan, and J.T. Metcalfe were members of the first  town council. Buchanan was the last Mayor of Fabens.

-Joseph Longo

 

Since 1954 the El Paso County Historical Society has been a driving force in the historic scene of El Paso. EPCHS strives to foster research into the history of the El Paso area; acquire and make available to the public historic materials; publish and encourage historical writing pertaining to the area; and to develop public consciousness of our rich heritage.