Harlingen was founded in the early 1900s by Leonidas Carrington Hill (Lon C. Hill). He was a lawyer from Beeville, Texas who was on his way to Brownsville to work a case when he recognized the area's potential. His initial land purchase was the Cameron County school lands in 1902. Later, in 1904, he would purchase additional land from Henrietta Chamberlain King (of King Ranch fame).
In 1904, the town got an official name, mainly out of necessity, for a new railroad was coming through, and, well, you need a name for your railroad station. Now, you would think that Hill would name the town after himself, something like Hillsville. Instead, the name Harlingen was chosen, and was suggested by Col. Uriah Lott, president of the railroad company building the rails and a major figure in railroad construction in south Texas.
(That same year, Hill did have the town of Lonsboro named after him, but it was later renamed to its current name Mercedes, located about 15 miles (24.14 km) west of Harlingen.)
He suggested Harlingen because his maternal grandmother's name was Eliza Van Harlingen, and she just so happened to be born in Harlingen, New Jersey, which just so happened to be named after a village in the Netherlands, which just so happened to be the home of her (and his) ancestors. The fact that planned irrigation canals for the area would give the town a certain Dutch flavor sealed the deal. Harlingen would go on to become officially incorporated in 1910.
- Handbook of Texas Online, Uriah Lott (accessed June 17, 2006)
- Handbook of Texas Online, Lon C. Hill (accessed June 17, 2006)
- The Chronological History of Harlingen by Norman Rozeff
- Mr. Rozeff has a lot of interesting information on Harlingen's history.
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