100 Years of History at Chimney Park Resort

The land where Chimney Park RV Resort was built was originally settled by the Primitive Polardos, the first settlement of the Nuevo Santerders Colony. The land between the Nuecus and Rio Grande Rivers formed a part of this settlement. The Spanish Viceroy granted “porcion” #55 to Jose Antonia Cantu. In 1767,  Mr. Cantu sold the land to the Cavazos Sisters. In 1774, the Cavazos’ attorney sold this land to Rene’ Guyard for the sum of $400.

By 1861, Mr. Guyard died and willed all of this land to Father Paresot, Father Pedro and the Oblate Missionaries. The Little La Lomita mission was established on the property and is still standing. In 1875, The Fathers willed the land to the Mission Society of the Oblate of Fathers of Texas.

In 1904, James Holt of Minneapolis had an interest in South Texas to expand an agricultural empire. Holt, Conway and Welcome came south to look over the land and purchased the land near the Rio Grande River. In August of 1907,  the area started its first lift station.

The brick for the chimney was made by hand in a plant near Madero, a small town nearby. The building was completed by laborers working for 40 cents a day. Many of them lived in shacks on the property.

A brick layer from New York was hired for the “sure enough pump” as the natives called it. The chimney is 106 feet tall and is 6 feet in diameter. At the top is a double row of blocks that form a design. There is some mystery as to why the top was never completed, but whatever the reason the design was never finished, the boilers began operation in 1907 and the lift station started to pump water from the Rio Grande.

In 1913 the Bankers Trust Company took receivership from Conway and Holt. John Shary bought the area in 1914. He used the station for irrigation until the 1952-53 droughts. Soon after, the Falcon and Anzalduas Dams were built and the pump was no longer needed.

Chimney Park was opened in the early 1960′s as a fishing camp with no amenities, but lots of rustic charm. Since then it has undergone extensive renovations and is now a highly rated RV resort yet it still retains that rustic charm and beauty that drew people to this location over 100 years ago.