Relampago Cemetery

Hidalgo Co. Cemeteries of Tx

Submitted by Frances Isbell

With Permission  of Hidalgo Co. Historical Commission (2005)

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LOCATION:  Southeastern Hidalgo County below Mercedes.  From US Highway 281 at Mercedes Main Canal  headgates, turn west on Rancho Toluca Road approximatly.6 mile.  Then turn south about 500 feet on dirt lAne to cemetery.

SURVEYED:  Ray Hunt, Joe Fallin, Edward Miner and Dale Swartzmiller on February 7, 1976, for McAllen Genealogical Society.

HISTORY:  Relampago (Lightning) Ranch was founded in 1852 by Thaddeus Rhodes and Jose Maria Mora.  Rhodes, son of the US Consul to the Republic of Texas, came to Brownsville in 1846 with Gen. Zachary Taylor’s troops.  When Hidalgo County was organized in 1852, Rhodes was appointed County Clerk.  He bought 3,188 acres out of old Rosario Ranch.  In 1865, he raised a troop of cavalry for the Confederacy.  He held the powerful position of justice of the peace for ten years, then served as county judge from 1876-1890.  In 1902, he sold 2,655 acres to an irrigation company; the rest of his property has passed into commercial farms.

Co-founder Jose Maria Mora operated a general mercantile store and ranched.  He received goods at the steamboat landing in front of his property.  His granddaughter Carmen Mora and husband Eddie Villarreal still farm 50 acres at Relampago. With neighbors, they maintain the cemetery donated by Amelia Rhodes.  Texas Historical marker 1980.