MELON, TEXAS. Melon (Mellon) was a farm community on the Missouri Pacific line and Interstate Highway 35 five miles southwest of Pearsall in central Frio County. The community was named for the substantial quantity of watermelons grown in the area. A post office called Mellon was established in 1906; the spelling was changed to Melon in 1909. By 1914 Melon had telephone service, two general stores, a cotton gin, and an estimated fifty inhabitants. From the 1920s into the 1940s the population was an estimated 100. In 1935 the Pearsall Leader reported that 200 rail cars filled with watermelons, spinach, onions, and mixed vegetables had recently been shipped from Melon. By 1936 oil drilling operations in the area had led to the construction of loading racks at Melon and two 55,000-gallon oil tanks nearby. The post office was discontinued in the early 1940s. In 1946 the community had an estimated population of 100, a church, and three businesses. By 1964 Melon appears to have been abandoned except for a few scattered buildings and several operating oil wells. In 1982 the site had six dry ponds and several buildings. By 1989 nothing remained.

BIBLIOGRAPHY: Data Compiled by the Texas History Class of 1936, Dilley High School (MS, Frio County Vertical File, Pearsall Municipal Library, Pearsall, Texas). Pearsall Leader, May 24, 1935.

Ruben E. Ochoa