Falfurrias

Brooks County Courthouse, Falfurrias, Texas

Brooks County Courthouse, Falfurrias, Texas

Brooks County Courthouse in the City of Falfurrias, Texas. Photograph by 25or6to4.
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Map of Brooks County

Falfurrias, the county seat and principal trading center of Brooks County, is on State Highway 281 sixty miles southwest of Corpus Christi and ninety miles from Laredo in the northern part of the county. Its founding and development were largely the effort of Edward C. Lasater, pioneer Rio Grande valley rancher and land developer, who in 1895 started a cattle ranch in what was then northern Starr County; his spread came to be known as Falfurrias Ranch, after La Mota de Falfurrias, the grove of trees he chose as the site of his headquarters. To increase settlement in the area Lasater encouraged the San Antonio and Aransas Pass Railway to extend a line to his ranch in 1904. At the railway terminus four miles east of his ranchhouse he founded Falfurrias; he also changed the name of his ranch to La Mota. His Falfurrias Immigration Company set about attracting settlers by offering subdivided ranchland near the railroad at low prices and advertising extensively in the East and Midwest.

The name Falfurrias antedates Anglo association with the area, and its derivation is uncertain. Lasater claimed that it was a Lipan Indian word meaning "the land of heart's delight"; others believed it was the Spanish name for a native desert flower known as the heart's delight. Less romantic is the theory that Falfurrias is a misspelling of one or another Spanish or French word. The word filfarrias, for example, Mexican slang for a filthy, untidy person, was long associated with an old shepherd in the region whom the locals referred to as Don Filfarrias. According to local tradition the shepherd's land came to be known as La Mota de Don Filfarrias (la mota meaning "a grove of trees"), which eventually evolved into La Mota de Don Falfurrias and was finally shortened to Falfurrias.

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Dale Lasater | © TSHA

Handbook of Texas Logo

Adapted from the official Handbook of Texas, a state encyclopedia developed by Texas State Historical Association (TSHA). It is an authoritative source of trusted historical records.

Great Texas Land Rush logo
Adoption Status:
This place has been adopted and will not be available until September 25, 2024
Adopted by:
Cecilia Hager
Dedication Message:
In honor of the 100th Anniversary of the Cage Ranch

Belongs to

Falfurrias is part of or belongs to the following places:

Currently Exists

Yes

Place type

Falfurrias is classified as a Town

Location

Latitude: 27.22431120
Longitude: -98.14516100

Has Post Office

Yes

Is Incorporated

Yes

Population Count, 2021 View more »

4,787