History of Dilley, TX

by Monica Esquibel
Palo Alto College

Picture that you are living during the 1800s, during this time the United States is undergoing developmental changes which you are a part of. In 1860, the first rail roads were developed this marked an industrial revolution for the United States. A vast majority of family members immigrated from different parts of the world to find better employment for their families, may coming to Dilley, which was among one of the first towns located in South Texas. Dilley is along theMissouri Pacific Railroad and IH35 approximately 16 miles southwest of Pearsall in the far southern Frio County. At this time Darlington had a general store and several dwellings. The community was originally named Darlington, after a landowner who settled in the mid 1860's. The community was sometimes called Ford because of a nearby Frio River crossing of an old Spanish trail, known as Rocky Ford. The I-GN built its first railroad depot, siding, and stock pen near the crossing. Paul and Alex Meersheidt of San Antonio purchased and platted land surrounding the railroad depot and laid out a town with the assistance of a local rancher, W. D. Harris. The name Dilley was derived shortly thereafter in honor of George M. Dilley, an official of the railroad. There is also evidence suggesting the name may have derived after an early settler named Dillahunty. In 1890 Jim McAllister laid the first telegraph line in Frio County, from San Antonio to Darlington, which that year had an estimated population of 50 and a general store owned by J. N. Harris. The post office was named Darlington at least until 1892. In 1886 the community was officially renamed Dilley with an estimated population of 50. In the early part of the 1900's the community supported two churches and a one-teacher school with 55 students. In 1906 the school had 87 students and two teachers. The students would ride to school on horse and buggy and some had a model-T made by the Ford Company. Dilley was incorporated in 1912. By 1914 the town had an estimated 1,000 residents, Baptist, Methodist, and Presbyterian churches, the Dilley State Bank, a weekly newspaper, a cotton gin, several general stores, and two hotels. Dilley had now become a shipping center for vegetable, fruit, and cattle and had become the leader in peanuts and watermelon farming. In 1928 the second highway in Frio County was completed from Dilley toEagle Pass. By 1929 Dilley had a population of 1,600. The town hosted the county's sole surviving cotton gin sometime in the 1930's after the destruction of the industry by boll weevil infestation. Editor James Howerton established the Dilley Herald in 1923; this was the main source of information for the townspeople. The population of the community then dropped to 929 in 1936 and rebounded by 1940 to an estimated 1,244. Around the late 1940's oil was discovered, many jobs opened up and many small ranchers invested in the oil fields. But when the oil was almost gone so were the rich investors and that left many people in Dilley poor and out of work. The Dilley Independent School District was consolidated with the Millet School District of La Salle County. The Dilley State Bank and a non-profit organization made up of more than 100 residents helped the town considerably, mainly as a result of the fund-raising efforts of Dilley State Bank president F. J. Avant. There are three big ranches in and around Dilley: Moffet and Avant ranches and the Smith ranch. Mr. Avant owns almost 100 acres in Dilley his family can be traced back to the earliest days of Dilley’s history. Mr. Avant also donated the land where the Dilley Prison was built in 1990. The history of Dilley is strong in cattle ranching, peanuts and watermelon farming and in oil. It’s simple, it’s quiet, but it’s sweet!!

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