A few days ago, I spoke on the House floor about Fabens, Texas, during a “23 in 1” series. During series, I take viewers and listeners on a one minute journey through 23rd District of Texas. As we continue our journey through the 23rd District of Texas in which I take viewers and listeners on a one minute journey through the district; through its towns, its cities, its cultures and its people. This morning I have the great privilege of highlighting Fabens, Texas. Fabens is located in the Mission Valley of El Paso and as of the 2010 Census had a population of 8,257 people. It’s about 30 miles southeast of El Paso, located along the Rio Grande River and I-10. Known as the home of the Wildcats, Fabens has long been a fierce competitor and a rival to mine own Alpine Bucks’. In fact, I still remember rather vividly when Alpine lost the district championship in football to Fabens my senior year of high school in 1980. I don’t think anyone – in either Alpine or Fabens – has ever forgotten that football game. Kids in Fabens are competitors, whether in sports or academic competitions and their prowess is known far and wide. The history of the community itself dates from the late-19th Century, though in 1665 a mission branch known as San Francisco de los Sumas was established just southeast of the future site of Fabens. A stagecoach station called San Felipe was in operation about three miles northeast of the site before 1870. And in the 1870s, Teodoro and Epitacia Álvarez owned a small farm on the actual site of what is now Fabens. That farm was known as the Mezquital. In 1887, the townsite was sold to E.S. Newman and the first permanent settler in what is now Fabens was Eugenio Pérez, who came from San Elizario around 1900. Mr. Perez himself owned a small farm and opened a small store, and shortly thereafter, when the Galveston, Harrisburg and San Antonio Railway built through the area and established a water-pumping station. In 1906, this store became the very first Fabens post office. The town of Fabens itself. When you think about the name, Fabens, where did it come from? The town was named for George Fabens, an officer with the Southern Pacific Railroad Company. In 1910, Fabens had just a few section houses for the railroad employees and two stores. In 1914, the estimated population was only about 100. The next few years brought many to the area as people began fleeing the Mexican Revolution. The townsite was laid out in 1911, but the development didn’t really happen until the Fabens Townsite and Improvement Company bought it in 1915. The completion in 1916 of the Franklin Canal and the subsequent rise in cotton prices during World War I attracted a number of wealthy visitors to the area. The rolling fields of the area nestled in the shadow of the mountains to the west and immediately adjacent to the Rio Grande were and still are perfect for farming. The estimated population rose from 50 in 1925 to 2,000 two years later, despite a major flood at that time. The price of cotton dropping and rising has all impacted Fabens. During the Great Depression, the estimated population of Fabens fell to 1,600 but in the early 1930s, as the Depression took hold it fell and fell. At the end of the 1930s, by about 1939, Fabens started its upward trend again. In April 1972, Fabens served as the location for the filming of the Sam Peckinpah film, The Getaway. The crime drama starred Steven McQueen and Ali MacGraw. Movie scenes were shot in the area and included explosions, car chases and shootouts. The film became a success and earned a big sum for those days, more than $25 million at the box office. Today, Fabens is also home to one of West Texas most popular and famous restaurants, the Cattleman’s Steakhouse. The steakhouse serves delicious food and it too has played a role in several movies. Fabens is also the home of Jockey Bill Shoemaker. As I’ve indicated earlier, kids in Fabens are served by the Fabens Independent School District and are known as the Wildcats. Many teachers in the Fabens ISD – they got their degree from my own college alma mater, my college alma mater, Sul Ross State University. Perhaps that’s part of the reason I feel so at home in visiting Fabens. The next time you’re in the 23rd District of Texas, I invite you too to visit Fabens, to enjoy the hospitality, to see the sights and to learn the history of Fabens and all of West Texas.
Posted on: Sun, 21 Sep 2014 00:05:00 +0000
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