First Lift Station
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Dedicated as a Texas Historic Landmark by the Texas Historical Commission in 1985, the First Lift Station in Mission, Texas once provided water for irrigating the crops of the early Rio Grande Valley. In 1907 John J. Conway and James W. Holt began the Mission Canal Co. Irrigation system, which was instrumental in the early agricultural growth of the area. Here they built the first pump station out of hand made brick from Madero. The chimney is 106 feet tall and 6 feet in diameter. At the top is a double row of bricks that form a partial design.
There is some mystery as to why the top of the chimney was never completed, but whatever the reason the design was never finished, the boilers began operation in 1907 and the lift station started to pump life giving water from the Rio Grande. The 106 ft chimney carried smoke from wood-fired boilers which produced steam to drive the pump. Wood was used in units of 2 to 3 cords (7 to 11 m³) and a crew of 26 men with teams of mules was kept busy night and day to keep the boilers fed.
The plant was later operated by John H. Shary and by Hidalgo County Water Control and Improvement Districts No. 7 and No. 14. The property was developed for recreational use after a new pumping plant was built upstream in the late 1950s. The chimney is still standing at the site of Chimney Park [1].
