McAllen Vacations, McAllen Vacation Reviews, Tourism Guide

McAllen Vacation Guide

Although travelers had passed through and explored South Texas, it wasn't until the 1740's that established settlement began to dot the landscape, mostly on the south side of the Rio Grande.

Situated along the Texas and Mexico border, this city is 58 miles from Brownsville, the Southern most tip of Texas. Hot and sometimes humid, this tropical climate is well suited for proximity to South Padre Island and is popular with Spring Breakers.

It wasn't until the early 1850's, when John McAllen arrived in the Rio Grande Valley, did development begin to come together where McAllen is today. John McAllen and others established a town site in 1904 known then as West McAllen and the St. Louis, Brownsville and Mexico Railroad reached the town site a year later. In 1907, other developers started a town on their own land tract and named it East McAllen.

Today, McAllen enjoys explosive growth and the near-constant addition of new and beautiful buildings in our city. The Texas State Bank building was erected in 1998 in north McAllen.