SAM FORDYCE, TEXAS. Sam Fordyce (Samfordyce) was ten miles west of Mission in southwest Hidalgo County. It was formed at the western end of the Sam Fordyce branch of the St. Louis, Brownsville and Mexico Railway after its construction in 1904. Samuel Fordyce, Sr., was a St. Louis financier who, among others, promoted construction of the SLB&M. He did not directly participate in the development of the community, which was principally a transfer point for merchandise bound for Rio Grande City. The United States Army used the location during the border troubles of 1916-17. John Conway, developer of Mission, attempted to promote the settlement in 1904 but abandoned his plans when he was unable to get clear title for a townsite. A post office opened at the settlement in 1905 and was closed in 1931. A flaw in the land title of the developing company halted immigration, and failure of irrigation plans soon after the townsite was laid out caused the population to decline. Although the 1910 census does not list Sam Fordyce as a town, that year a hotel, a post office, and a general store were located at the site. The community revived somewhat in 1916 when it was the railroad stop for troops stationed at Fort Ringgold, but by 1920 the troops were removed, and the town had declined to a population of seventy-five. Construction of the rail extension from Sam Fordyce to Rio Grande City and Fort Ringgold in 1925 impeded the growth of the settlement. In 1926 the population was estimated at seventy-five. It was 125 from the 1930s to the 1960s and was estimated at eighty-five in the 1970s and 1980s. By 1990, however, little evidence of the town remained.

BIBLIOGRAPHY: James Lewellyn Allhands, Gringo Builders (Joplin, Missouri, Dallas, Texas, 1931).

Robert E. Norton