Linn, Hidalgo County
Macedonio Vela settled here in 1867 and soon transformed over 4,000 acres of wild brush land into prosperous Laguna Seca (Dry Lake) Ranch. In 1871, his daughter, Carlota, grew the first orange trees in Hidalgo County from the seeds of a fruit given her by a traveling priest. This is now an important citrus-producing area. The ranch had grown to 80,000 acres when a school was built here in 1892. Delfina post office, named for another one of Vela's daughters, was opened in 1893 and a Catholic church in 1894. Laguna Seca Ranch is still owned by the Vela family. (1975)