Mexican settlers first came to the valley of the Rio Grande to
establish their ranchos in the 1750s. Two centuries later the
Great River, dammed in an international effort by the U.S. and
Mexican governments to provide flood control and a more
dependable water supply, inundated twelve settlements that had
been built there. Under the waters of the new Falcón Reservoir lay
homes, businesses, churches, and cemeteries abandoned by
residents on both sides of the river when the floods of 1953 filled
the 115,000-acre area two years ahead of schedule.
The Smithsonian Institution, the National Park Service, and the
University of Texas at Austin conducted an initial survey of the
communities lost to the Falcón Reservoir, but these studies were
never completed or fully reported. When architect W. Eugene
George came to the area in the 1960s, he found a way of life waiting
to be preserved in words, photographs, and drawings.
Two subsequent recessions of the reservoir—in 1983–86 and
again in 1996–98—gave George new access to one of the
settlements, Guerrero Viejo in Mexico. Unfortunately, the receding
lake waters also made the village accessible to looters. George's
work, then, was crucial in documenting the indigenous architecture
of these villages, both as it existed prior to the flooding and as it
remained before it was despoiled by vandals' hands.
Lost Architecture of the Rio Grande Borderlands combines
George's original 1975 Texas Historical Commission report with the
information he gleaned during the two low-water periods. This
handsome, extended photographic essay casts new light on the
architecture and lives of the people of the Texas-Mexico borderlands.
_________________________________________________________
After a distinguished career in academe and historic preservation,
W. EUGENE GEORGE became the inaugural Mary Ann Blocker
Castleberry Endowed Professor of Architecture at the University of
Texas at San Antonio. He lives in Austin and maintains an active
architectural practice.
Number Seven: Fronteras Series, sponsored by Texas A&M
International University
What people are saying about this book
"Eugene George's knowledge of architectural terminology, his eye
for aspects that the untrained eye would not appreciate, his
photographic skills, and the accompanying beautiful drawings will
convince readers of the importance of historical preservation."—José
Roberto (Beto) Juárez, series editor
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