Lasara

Lasara's start dates differ by source. The plaque says the townsite was developed in 1926, but the Handbook of Texas says it was laid out in 1924 and the post office came in 1926. The land came from four old grants: Las Mesteñas, Pititas, La Abra and San Juan de Carricitos. A school district was approved on March 18, 1925, a year before the post office. The town had eight stores by 1931, and about 100 people and four businesses in 1933. A 1987 count listed a grain elevator, a school, two churches and two factories.

What the plaque says

Lasara Formed out of the San Juan Carricitos Spanish land grant, the townsite of Lasara was developed in 1926 by W. A. Harding and Lamar Gill. The names of their wives, Laura Harding and Sara Gill, were combined to form the name of the town. During 1926, a post office was established, a Union Sunday School was organized, and the schoolhouse at this site was begun. Lasara School long has played an important role as a social center for community activities. The town, once a center for cattle shipping, continues to be a focal point for the surrounding rural area. (1985)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Museum of South Texas History — 19 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 — 34 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.

More markers nearby

• Great Salt Lake — 1.2 mi
• Hilltop Gardens — 6.7 mi
• Willacy County — 7.6 mi
• Edward Burleson Raymond — 7.9 mi