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Old Hidalgo Pumphouse & World Birding Center

December 24, 2018 by Jillian 1 Comment

old hidalgo pumphouse & world birding center

old hidalgo pumphouse & world birding center

old hidalgo pumphouse & world birding center

Last June I visited the Old Hidalgo Pumphouse in Hidalgo, Texas, a town that lies right on the border of Mexico in the heart of the Rio Grande Valley. Reynosa sits just on the other side of the Rio Grande River. Hidalgo was founded in 1852 and was first named Edinburgh, after the birthplace of Hidalgo’s founder. It became the county seat and the name was later changed to Hidalgo, which literally translates to “son of something” or loosely, “gentleman,” because it referred to someone of noble rank. The Hidalgo Pumphouse dates back to 1909, when it was built to service over 40,000 acres of land that needed irrigation, and was in operation until 1983 when a newer pump plant was opened nearby.

I went to visit the Old Pumphouse on a hot Thursday afternoon. It has been converted to a museum, and like the other parts of the lower valley, attracts birds because of the tropical climate, so it also functions as a birding center. I was the only visitor there, so it was quiet and peaceful, and I was surprised by just how beautiful it was. History and nature are two of my favorite things, and being able to combine the two is even better!

old hidalgo pumphouse

hidalgo pumphouse

old hidalgo pumphouse museum

old hidalgo pumphouse museum

old hidalgo pumphouse museum

old hidalgo pumphouse museum

The Old Hidalgo Pumphouse is located just past the historic downtown area. When I went, the grounds surrounding it had food trucks and a cute store. When you first enter the museum, there’s a lobby area with an information desk. Admission is free and you can wander through the old pumphouse, which is filled with the old machinery, tools, and a miniature model of the old railroad. It was interesting, especially if you like engineering and that sort of thing, but I was really anxious to get back outside and explore the grounds!

world birding center hidalgo

world birding center hidalgo

world birding center hidalgo

world birding center hidalgo

purple flowers

world birding center

If you exit the pumphouse from the opposite side, it takes you to a beautiful garden with a little stream and a small pavilion. Just beyond that is the border wall. I decided to loop back around towards the parking lot and found the “Old Swimming Hole.”

old swimming hole

old hidalgo pumphouse

old hidalgo pumphouse

amphitheater

sunflower

old hidalgo pumphouse

The large space in front of the pumphouse has been turned into an amphitheater with a projector screen. And behind that is a shady area with a bench and some cute little buckets decorated by kids.

old hidalgo pumphouse

bench

buckets

tree branch

pink flowers

hidalgo pumphouse

This took me back to the garden area. Beyond that on the south side is the Rio Grande River. Luckily, the border wall provides a gap here, so visitors can enjoy the beautiful scenic outlook. Hopefully this doesn’t change, despite the increase of wall construction along the Rio Grande River.

old hidalgo pumphouse

hidalgo pumphouse

rio grande river

world birding center hidalgo

ducks

You can’t tell from this photo, but this was a cute little family. There was a baby duckling swimming in between them!

rio grande river

rio grande river

rio grande river

If you look closely at the photo above, you can see a building with the Texas, Mexico, and U.S. flags. That’s the Customs & Border station at the International Bridge into Mexico. In the photo below, you can see Reynosa in the distance.

rio grande river

I walked back to the parking lot and found some beautiful trees on the lawn.

beautiful flowers

tropical trees

yellow tree

yellow blossoms

yellow flowers

There is also a 4.5 mile hike & bike trail on the grounds, where you can find even more birds, and I hope I can get back there someday soon to check it out! If you are visiting the Rio Grande Valley of South Texas, I would highly recommend taking a couple of hours to explore the Old Hidalgo Pumphouse. And if you stay until the evening, you may even be able to enjoy the food trucks and a movie screening at the amphitheater!

Jillian

Related posts on Compassionate Women:

  1. La Sal del Rey & Raymondville, Texas
  2. Shangri La Botanical Gardens and Nature Center
  3. Our Lady of Lourdes Grotto & Historic Downtown Roma

Filed Under: Bits & Pieces, Travel Tagged With: amphiteater, birding center, compassionate women, explore, flowers, garden, hidalgo pumphouse, hidalgo texas, history, international bridge, museum, nature, old hidalgo pumphouse, old hidalgo pumphouse & world birding center, pumphouse museum, reynosa, rio grande river, south texas, Texas, texas history, travel, vegan blog, world birding center

Comments

  1. Randy Hollingsworth says

    March 30, 2019 at 9:48 pm

    What a fantastic post! You have an excellent eye for photography, capturing the beauty of nature and the mechanical elements of development. Your writing provides pure history without boring your reader with unnecessary details and with just the right splash of “youness”(pretty sure that’s not a word) splashed in. My favorite photos were 6,10,14,23 and 37. On a side note, I just now noticed the “Jillian?” at the conclusion of your articles. Would you care to elaborate?

    Reply

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HEY THERE! I’M JILLIAN.

I live near Houston, Texas with my rescue dog Stella! I create cruelty-free recipes that are delicious, to demonstrate that it's easy to follow a plant-based lifestyle. Not only are the health and beauty benefits noticeable, but it creates a more sustainable planet and keeps our animal friends safe & happy. In our spare time, Stella and I also love watching movies, reading, snuggling, and taking long walks! LEARN MORE…

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compassionatewomen

Compassionate Women
Look at the texture on my new alocasia melo 😍😍 and some more of my new plants... Calathea musaica, Snow queen pothos, red prayer plant, peacock calathea, snake plant, Christmas cactus, Chinese money plant, ficus ginseng, and cute little cactus 🌵 
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Hobbs is my pal in the buddy program, which means Hobbs is my pal in the buddy program, which means I spend special time with him. I used watercolor to paint this sign for him and included his bio! He can be very shy, but now people can read more about him and see what a sweet boy he is. I also recently got another buddy, a pony named Fergus, who lived with Hobbs in his previous home! 💗
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Mommas & babies begging for more 🥕🥕 I know i Mommas & babies begging for more 🥕🥕 I know it's a good day at the ranch when I have a dirt mustache from kissing so many donkeys 😆😆
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The rescue ranch I volunteer at got a truck load o The rescue ranch I volunteer at got a truck load of watermelons donated so I've been getting creative with recipes! Among other things, I've made a watermelon mocktail, watermelon yogurt popsicles, and a watermelon salad w/ cucumber, tomato, mint, and vegan feta 🍉🍉
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A year ago I was at this beach with Stella, watchi A year ago I was at this beach with Stella, watching her doggy paddle in the ocean while I held her. I wish I was back here now with Stella 💙
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Vegan chocolate chip banana bread cake! 🍌🍫 I Vegan chocolate chip banana bread cake! 🍌🍫 I didn't pay attention to the amount it made before starting, and ended up with a much bigger cake than I thought/needed/wanted 😆😋
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My new calatheas 😍 I've been wanting a rattlesn My new calatheas 😍 I've been wanting a rattlesnake calathea 🐍
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It's just one more plant... until I have 5000 plan It's just one more plant... until I have 5000 plants 🫣 But who knew the 99 CENT STORE would have plants I can't find anywhere else locally? On another note, why do reels alwayssss mess up my text? 
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The plants in my front room 🌿 Well, minus the m The plants in my front room 🌿 Well, minus the money tree I bought today 🤭 and my monstera has a moss pole now! 
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This is me comforting Captain, a donkey at the res This is me comforting Captain, a donkey at the rescue ranch I volunteer at, on July 4th. I noticed him laying down, which I've never seen him do before. When I went in his pen, he let me sit down and hug him, which is not normally how he is. He's not super affectionate. I felt like something was wrong. Another volunteer who has more experience came over and gave Captain some high fructose corn syrup, left some carrots, and a bucket of water mixed with applesauce. He said Captain was probably dehydrated. Apparently he was all better the next day. Donkeys can go downhill very quickly and not a lot of vets are experts on them. I'm glad it was nothing super serious and that Captain is back to his rambunctious self! ♥️
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My kitchen plants 🪴 including some pothos propa My kitchen plants 🪴 including some pothos propagations, orchids I'm trying to rehab, and a pumpkin bowl with chia seeds that I just planted 🌱
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