Water to make the Valley Grow

This morning we drove to Hidalgo, Texas to see the old Pumphouse location. Back in 1909 a steam driven Pumping station was constructed. The function of this station was to pump water from the Rio Grande River to the Hidalgo County area of Texas. The main channel was dug on the western edge of the county and feeder canals were constructed to flow the water towards the East. This new source of water made it possible to grow almost anything. There were a number of these steam powered pumping stations along the Rio Grande River, but this is the only station remaining. All of the pumping stations are electric powererd today.