John H. Shary Home

John Shary came to the Valley in 1912 as a land salesman, not a farmer. A pharmacist by training, he had already developed 250,000 acres around Corpus Christi, and Jesse Jones helped finance his Valley venture, which grew past 50,000 acres. He bought most of the early experimental citrus groves, especially grapefruit, and harvested some of the first commercial crops after World War I. In 1923 he built the area's first commercial citrus packing plant. Shary died in 1945 and was buried in a small chapel on the estate.

What the plaque says

John H. Shary Home Built 1917 by Father of the Texas citrus industry, pioneer developer of Rio Grande Valley, and the Intercoastal Canal. For 20 years chairman Sharyland School Board. Here in 1953, Mrs. Shary, her daughter, Mrs. Allen Shivers, and Governor Shivers entertained President Dwight D. Eisenhower during Falcon Dam dedication. Shivers, 1949-1957 Governor, was chief executive longer than any other; headed one of state's most progressive administrations. A major event of his regime was the restoration of the tidelands to Texas. (1964)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Museum of South Texas History — 7.7 mi
  Edinburg's regional museum, begun in 1967 in the 1910 Hidalgo County jail and now telling the Rio Grande's story from fossils and native peoples through steamboats to the 20th century.
• La Lomita Chapel — 7.9 mi
  A small sandstone chapel on the Rio Grande levee, built by Oblate missionaries in 1865 and rebuilt at this site in 1899, the landmark that gave the city of Mission its name.
• Bentsen-Rio Grande Valley State Park — 8.3 mi
  A 587-acre stand of Rio Grande woodland near Mission, once part of a Spanish porción, given to the state by the Bentsen family in 1944 and now headquarters of the World Birding Center.
• Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge — 15 mi
  About 2,000 acres of river forest on the Rio Grande's north bank, the surviving part of Benigno Leal's 1834 land grant, kept as a refuge since 1943 where two bird migration routes meet.

More markers nearby

• Texas Citrus Fiesta — 3.8 mi
• Leo Najo — 4.4 mi
• Campsite of the "Fighting 69th" — 4.7 mi
• Site of Casa de Palmas — 4.7 mi