Las Milpas (Spanish: "the ''

milpa In agriculture, a milpa is a field for growing food crops and a crop-growing system used throughout Mesoamerica, especially in the Yucatán Peninsula, in Mexico. The word ''milpa'' derives from the Nahuatl words ''milli'' and ''pan''. Based on th ...

s'' ( cornfields)") is a colonia in the City of Pharr, in central Hidalgo County,

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

in the

Rio Grande Valley Lower Rio Grande Valley (), often referred to as the Rio Grande Valley (RGV) of South Texas, is a region located in the southernmost part of Texas, along the northern bank of the Rio Grande. It is also known locally as the Valley or the 956 (the ...

. It was previously an

unincorporated area An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...

. Las Milpas is located off of U.S. Highway 281, south of the city center of Pharr,LAS MILPAS, TX
"

Handbook of Texas The Texas State Historical Association (TSHA) is an American nonprofit educational and research organization dedicated to documenting the history of Texas. It was founded in Austin, Texas, United States, on March 2, 1897. In November 2008, the ...

. Retrieved on September 27, 2013. and between McAllen and the

United States-Mexico border United may refer to: Places * United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community * United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community Arts and entertainment Films * ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film * ''United'' (2011 film), a BBC Two f ...

History

Las Milpas, like many colonias, was established in the 1960s. In 1962 it had multiple dwellings,

plat In the United States, a plat ( or ) (plan) is a cadastral map, drawn to scale, showing the divisions of a piece of land. United States General Land Office surveyors drafted township plats of Public Lands Survey System, Public Lands Surveys to ...

ted streets, and a church. By 1976 the community had 77 dwellings and about 424 residents. In a period before 1987 the larger community had almost 5,000 residents. The community received media coverage that used it as an example of the lifestyles of residents in American colonias during the mid-to-late 1980s. In 1987 the City of Pharr annexed the community. Some residents of Las Milpas opposed the annexation. On December 19, 1987, the City of Pharr annexed the final of Las Milpas. In 1990 Las Milpas and Hidalgo Park, another colonia, had a combined population of 4,178. By 1995 the community had 12,000 residents. Chris Kelley of ''

The Dallas Morning News ''The Dallas Morning News'' is a daily newspaper serving the Dallas–Fort Worth area of Texas, with an average print circulation in 2022 of 65,369. It was founded on October 1, 1885, by Alfred Horatio Belo as a satellite publication of the ' ...

'' wrote that year that Las Milpas "helps make the case that Pharr is the most distressed city in America." Lynn Brezosky of the ''

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...

'' wrote that Las Milpas and Pueblo de Palmas, around 1997, "were

Calcutta Kolkata, also known as Calcutta (List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern ba ...

on the

Rio Grande The Rio Grande ( or ) in the United States or the Río Bravo (del Norte) in Mexico (), also known as Tó Ba'áadi in Navajo language, Navajo, is one of the principal rivers (along with the Colorado River) in the Southwestern United States a ...

, poverty-stricken places that became filthy, stinking, disease-ridden expanses awash in mud and sewage whenever it rained heavily."Brezosky, Lynn.
Shantytowns transform themselves
" ''

'' at the ''

USA Today ''USA Today'' (often stylized in all caps) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth in 1980 and launched on September 14, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headq ...

''. June 11, 2007. Retrieved on September 26, 2013. By 2007 the community grew to over 17,000 residents and many

illegal immigrants Illegal immigration is the migration of people into a country in violation of that country's immigration laws, or the continuous residence in a country without the legal right to do so. Illegal immigration tends to be financially upward, wi ...

in the community became U.S. citizens and began applying political pressure to the federal and state governments to get aid for the community. Brezosky wrote that Las Palmas's "transformation into a proud, largely well-tended community" was "an immigrant success story."

Demographics

It was part of the Las Milpas-Hidalgo Park CDP which first appeared in the

1980 U.S. Census The 1980 United States census, conducted by the United States Census Bureau, Census Bureau, determined the resident population of the United States to be 226,545,805, an increase of 11.4% over the 203,184,772 persons Enumeration, enumerated dur ...

. It was annexed to the city of Pharr prior to the 1990 U.S. Census. the area poverty rate was 62.1% and 40% of the inhabitants did not receive a high school diploma.2016-2017 Texas 21st Century Community Learning Centers, Cycle 9, Year 1
"

Texas Education Agency The Texas Education Agency (TEA) is the branch of the government of Texas responsible for public education in Texas in the United States.

. p. 5/46. Retrieved on March 12, 2017. p. 5 of 46. "Majority of the district's residents live in "colonias", ..ne of the colonias highlighted in this report, Las Milpas, ..tudents who live in the colonias attend J.C. Kelly Elementary and Hidalgo Park, ..

Education

The Pharr-San Juan-Alamo Independent School District operates public schools. The South Pharr Elementary School was scheduled to open on September 3, 2007, after the start of the school year on August 27. In early 2013 it was renamed Carmen Anaya Elementary School after the co-founder of the Valley Interfaith organization. Persons zoned to Anaya are also zoned to Jaime Escalante Middle School and PJSA Southwest Early College High School.PSJA ISD High School Map
" Pharr-San Juan-Alamo Independent School District. Retrieved on March 12, 2017. Many children who reside in the Las Milpas area also attend schools in the Hidalgo Independent School District. J. C. Kelly Elementary School serves sections of Las Milpas in Hidalgo ISD.Hidalgo ISD School Map
Hidalgo Independent School District. Retrieved on March 12, 2017. All residents of Hidalgo ISD are zoned to Ida Diaz Jr. High School and Hidalgo Early College High School. Some children attend school in the Valley View Independent School District.SCHOOL DISTRICT REFERENCE MAP (2010 CENSUS): Hidalgo County, TX
"

U.S. Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The U.S. Census Bureau is part of the U ...

. Retrieved on January 2, 2017. In addition,

South Texas Independent School District South Texas Independent School District (STISD) is a magnet school district headquartered in Mercedes, Texas ( USA). STISD operates magnet schools that draw students from three counties: Cameron, Hidalgo and Willacy. STISD covers an area o ...

operates magnet schools that serve the community.

References

External links

Carmen Anaya Elementary School
- PJSA ISD
J.C. Kelly Elementary School
- Hidalgo ISD {{Hidalgo County, Texas Pharr, Texas

History

Demographics

Education

References

Further reading

External links