Hill, Lon C. (Lon Carrington), 1862-1935

Leonidas Carrington Hill, Sr. (1862–1935) was a lawyer, politician, farmer, and water and land developer born in Gilleland Creek in Travis County, Texas, on July 31, 1862. He attended Add-Ran Male and Female College before marrying Eustacia Dabney in 1882. After managing a general store in Manor, Texas, he studied law at the University of Texas and completed his degree at the University at Virginia. He moved to Beeville, Texas, in 1891. He practiced law and quickly rose to become a leading Democratic leader.

Hill developed an interest in the lower Rio Grande Valley area while traveling. He started a rice plantation in the Brownsville area while still practicing law in Beeville. After acquiring 300,000 acres of land in the Hidalgo-Cameron County area, he founded the city of Harlingen on land that had been school lands and part of the King Ranch. Hill raised money for the construction of a railroad while operating a hardware and impellent store in Brownsville.

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