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The exact date of construction of this house is unknown. Local records suggest it may have been built as part of a 20-acre tract circa 1909, predating Weslaco as the neighboring towns of Mercedes and Donna were developing. In April 1913, the American Rio Grande Land and Irrigation Company surveyed and platted the west tract subdivision in this area. The W.E. Stewart Land Company developed the townsite of Weslaco in 1919. At that time, this house was outside the city limits.
Benjamin Franklin Yoakum sought to encourage farming in the Rio Grande Valley and promoted development of the Weslaco townsite to families in the midwestern United States. Ohio native Minnie May Nickel bought the property in October 1919. In subsequent records she is listed as one of the area’s few female farmers as a head of household. The property changed hands several times in the following years and was home to many of Weslaco’s founding or early families. These have included E.G. and Fannie Kennedy, architect and realtor Harry L. Stebbins, educators Floyd and Alice McConnell, and Charles and Ella Woolf.
The two-story home exhibits an American foursquare floor plan with Spanish Revival styling, including stucco walls, arched entries and terraced roofs. Under the ownership of Ewing and Lena C. Clark in the 1920s, the house was modified to include a bedroom and porte-cochere over the brick driveway and other additions. Other historic resources of the property include a single-room carriage house built of similar construction to the main house. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 2020 |
