SAFETY NOTICE: The railroad track nearby is an active track
while they are bringing in the blades for the wind machines south
of town. It is rare, but they do come by sometimes. PLEASE use
common sense and do not play on the tracks. Also, if you hear a
train coming, we advise you to get out of its way. THANK YOU!
the3defaus
In November 1987 the Abilene Reporter News published a 12 page
special section entitled Hispanics in Abilene. In that special
report the ARN interviewed several Hispanics that had settled in
the city's first Hispanic barrios. From those interviews it was
documented that the following were the first major Hispanic barrios
in Abilene.
El Barrio de Los Sancudos In the early 1910s Hispanics
began to settle in Abilene in pursue of jobs, to get away from the
impoverished Old Mexico or from Pancho Villa's Revolution.
The area of Abilene where they settled was an area between North
2nd and North 7th Streets and N. Treadaway and Bois D' Arc Street.
The area became known to the Hispanics as "El Barrio de Los
Sancudos" which was named for the pesky insects that breed in the
nearby creek.
Barrio de la Culebra As the Hispanic population in
Abilene began to grow and the old barrio began to push eastward, a
new barrio was formed in the Goodlow area, located southeast of
Abilene. The barrio was named "El Barrio de la Culebra". El barrio
"La Culebra" was later uprooted because of the frequent flooding in
the area.
Barrio Del Penjamo In the 1950s, another barrio sprung up
in the Sears Park area called "Barrio Del Penjamo" The barrio was
named after a popular song at the time and for an outdoor club
owned by Manuel Ramirez, who lived off Ambler Street. The club was
actually a slab of concrete behind his home where he held
dances.
Barrio de Los Sapos Hispanics living in the city's
northern Impact area resided in what some called Barrio Del Los
Sapos, "neighborhood of the frogs". The area flooded often and
frogs were sometimes thick in the residents' backyards after a
rainstorm. The Impact area was later incorporated into Impact,
Texas.
There were other pockets of Hispanics living in other areas of
the city but these smaller areas had no known names. All of the
barrios, except for "La Culebra", still exist and Hispanics,
including the family members from the original Hispanic settlers in
Abilene, have integrated into all sections of Abilene.
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