Built as Planters State Bank on 209 W. Jackson
the building is now the Downtown Harlingen office.
Downtown Harlingen is a treasure-trove of historic buildings. Built around the 1920s, they were at one time seed and feed stores, hardware stores, doctors’ offices, pharmacies and banks. In those days you found lunch counters and soda fountains, a hotel and a theater downtown.
Many of those old buildings have been transformed and now include art galleries and a museum, events centers and reception halls, urban lofts and antiques shops.
The city’s downtown was built on land that city founder Lon C. Hill bought from Cameron County and the state of Texas after the railroad crossed the area known as Six-Shooter Junction in 1904. In the 1960s, the city’s downtown began to change when Sunrise Mall opened, leading some businesses to move out of the Jackson Avenue area. Other downtown merchants tried to revamp their old buildings, masking them in metal facades to give them a modern touch aimed at drawing customers.
In the 1980s, Harlingen’s downtown, like many downtowns in the United States, was nearly deserted so in the late 1980s, city leaders launched a project aimed at revitalizing the downtown area. (Excerpt taken from the Valley Morning Star article "Old is New: Harlingen before and after transformations" By Fernando Del Valle)
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At each location you will need to answer a question to find part of the coordinates to the final cache. (N 26 11.DB2 W 97 A.EC9)
#1: Count the number of parrots are in the mural. Take that number and subtract 2. Then take your answer and reverse the digits. The answer is A.
#2: Subtract the number of letters in the celebrity's last name from the number of letters on the license plate. The answer is B.
#3: The only number on the Charlie Chaplin movie poster minus the number of men wearing hats in the front of the Grande Theater. The answer is C.
The number of actors in the clouds. The answer is D.
#4: The number of flowers on the mural. The answer is E.
For more information about the Geo-Quest visit the Harlingen Parks and Recreation website by going to www.myharlingen.us and clicking on the Parks and Recreation Tab.
