Frio County

Frio County grew on water and Mexican labor. Cotton rose from 543 acres in 1880 to 52,057 in 1910 and peaked at 55,349 in 1920. Farmers relied on Mexican migrant workers hired on contract, and around 1910 they brought pickers from the Laredo area. The first artesian well came in 1905, and shallow wells after 1914 opened the way for onions and spinach. The boll weevil and the Depression cut cotton to 857 acres by 1940. Peanuts, pushed by a county agent as a substitute, were the biggest money crop by 1970, and watermelons followed.

What the plaque says

Frio County (Created 1858, Organized 1871) Home of Pachal Indians before Spaniards arrived in Mexico (1519). First area explorer was Alonso de Leon, 1690, searching for Fort St. Louis founded by La Salle. Upper Presidio Road--artery of travel from Saltillo, Mexico, to East Texas--crossed Frio River and became a King's Highway , 1720. Frio Town, first county seat, was located on the road, over which Santa Anna marched to destroy defenders of the Alamo in 1836. County took name from Frio (a Spanish word which means "cold") River. The county seat moved to Pearsall, 1883. Jail, built 1884, is the oldest building in town. (1968)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Frio Pioneer Jail Museum — steps away
  Pearsall's 1884 county jail, the town's oldest building, used for 83 years and now a free museum with a sheriff's home downstairs and six cells above.

More markers nearby

• Frio Lodge No. 399, A.F. & A.M. — steps away
• Moore Cemetery — 13 mi
• Moore Catholic Cemetery — 13 mi
• Tehuacana Cemetery — 14 mi