Escobares

Escobares is between the Rio Grande and U.S. Highway 83 a mile east of RomaLos Saenz in south central Starr County; it has expanded to fill the area between Roma and Garce?o. The community is served by rural mail delivery from Roma. It is in the original Spanish land grants of the Mier jurisdiction given north of the Rio Grande to Jos? de Escand?n 's colonists in the mid-eighteenth century. In 1899 Escobares had a public school that employed one teacher and had an enrollment of thirty-three. In 1940 the settlement comprised a store, a school, a church, and a population of ten. In 1990 it had 1,705 inhabitants, several stores, and a school. Sacred Heart Catholic Church, built in the early 1940s with seating for 188, was replaced in 1991 by a 500 seat Spanish Colonialstyle church. In 2000 the population was 1,954. Escobares was incorporated in 2005, and the city established its own city commission as well as police and fire departments. The population in 2010 was 1,188. In 2011 the city opened its first fire station. The name Escobares is from a colloquial Spanish term that probably refers to fields of broomcorn.