[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 10]
[House]
[Page 14615]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                         23 IN 1--FABENS, TEXAS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Texas (Mr. Gallego) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. GALLEGO. Mr. Speaker, today as we continue our journey through 
the 23rd District in which I take viewers and listeners on a 1-minute 
journey through the district, through its towns, its cities, its 
cultures, and its people, this morning I have the great privilege of 
highlighting Fabens, Texas.
  Fabens is located in the Mission Valley south of El Paso and, as of 
the 2010 census, had a population of 8,257 people. It is about 30 miles 
southeast of El Paso, located along the Rio Grande River and I-10.
  Known as the home of the Wildcats, Fabens has long been a fierce 
competitor and a rival of my own Alpine Bucks. In fact, I still 
remember rather vividly when Alpine lost the district championship in 
football to Fabens my senior year of high school in 1980. I don't think 
anyone in either Alpine or Fabens has ever forgotten that football 
game. Kids in Fabens are competitors, whether in sports or academic 
competitions, and their prowess is known far and wide.
  The history of the community itself dates from the late 19th century, 
though in 1665 a mission branch known as San Francisco de los Sumas was 
established just southeast of the future site of Fabens. A stagecoach 
station called San Felipe was in operation about 3 miles northeast of 
the site before 1870.
  In the 1870s, Teodoro and Epitacia Alvarez owned a small farm on the 
actual site of what is now Fabens. That farm was known as the 
Mezquital. In 1887, the town site was sold to E.S. Newman, and the 
first permanent settler in what is now Fabens became Eugenio Perez, who 
came from San Elizario around 1900.
  Mr. Perez himself owned a small farm, opened a small store; and 
shortly thereafter, when the Galveston, Harrisburg, and San Antonio 
Railway built through the area and established a water-pumping station, 
the community began to grow. In 1906, this store became the very first 
Fabens post office.
  The town of Fabens itself, when you think about the name ``Fabens,'' 
where did that come from? It was named for George Fabens, an officer 
with the Southern Pacific Railroad.
  In 1910, Fabens had just a few section houses for the railroad 
employees and two stores; and in 1914, the estimated population was 
only about 100, but the next few years brought many to the area as 
people began fleeing the Mexican Revolution.
  The town site was laid out in 1911, but the development didn't really 
happen until the Fabens Townsite and Improvement Company bought it in 
1915. The completion in 1956 of the Franklin Canal and the subsequent 
rise in cotton prices during World War I attracted a number of wealthy 
visitors to the area.
  The rolling fields of the area, nestled in the shadow of the 
mountains to the west and immediately adjacent to the Rio Grande, were 
and still are perfect for farming.
  The estimated population rose from 50 in 1925 to 2,000 2 years later, 
despite a major flood at that time. The price of cotton dropping and 
going up has all impacted Fabens. During the Great Depression, the 
estimated population of Fabens fell to 1,600. But in the early 1930s, 
as the Depression took hold, it fell and fell; but at the end of the 
1930s, by about 1939, it had started an upward trend again.
  In April of 1972, Fabens served as the location for the filming of 
the Sam Peckinpah film, ``The Getaway.'' The crime drama starred Steve 
McQueen and Ali MacGraw. Movie scenes were shot in the area and 
included explosions and car chases and shootouts. The film became a 
success and earned a big sum for those days of $25 million at the box 
office.
  Today Fabens is also home to one of west Texas' most popular and 
famous restaurants, the Cattleman's Steakhouse. The steakhouse serves 
delicious food, and it too has played a role in several movies.
  Fabens is also the home of jockey Bill Shoemaker.
  As I indicated earlier, kids in Fabens are served by the Fabens 
Independent School District and are known as the Wildcats. Many 
teachers in the Fabens ISD got their degrees from my own alma mater, my 
college alma mater, Sul Ross State University. Perhaps that is part of 
the reason I always feel so at home in visiting Fabens.
  The next time you are in the 23rd District of Texas, I invite you too 
to visit Fabens, to enjoy the hospitality, to see the sights, and to 
learn the history of Fabens and all of west Texas.

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