956creatives

Inside this volume:
– Harlingen, TX, 25th Anniversary of Market Days: A community gathering on the first Saturday of every month.

– Local Creative Feature: Liza Marie Saldaña

Editorial By: Anissa Barrientos

One of the first things you notice about Market Days is that almost the entirety of Jackson Street between 4th and Commerce is blocked off. Even if you aren’t attending the market, it’s such a neat thing to see while driving on the street parallel to Jackson – Harrison Ave. Harrison runs through the center of Harlingen, making it a staple street in our city. At any time you’re driving down Harrison while Market Days is happening and you just so happen to look to your right, you can see the barricades starting at 4th Street. If you’re reading this and don’t attend the market, then you probably look at the blocked-off streets as more of a hindrance, throwing you off course a bit by needing to take a different route. But maybe we can let it serve as a reminder that not everything is a race and sometimes we need to experience a change of scenery, stop and smell the roses. Or in this case, stop and experience the wonderful treasures – and feel the sense of history and community – at Market Days.

With plenty of parking all around Jackson Street, you can feel safe as you walk across the parking lots and into the market. A favorite place to park is along Van Buren and 1st so you can stroll along the crosswalk. While you do, you are able to gaze at the amazing architecture of the mid-century modern style, three-story office building that was constructed in 1966, which is also a Harlingen landmark to admire so much. Surrounded by nothing except our gorgeous native palm trees, the building has tall black glass windows and white pointed trim that make it such a marvel to look at. After passing the historic building, we continue to see even more. To your left, you can see Rialto Reception Hall with that amazing mural “The Golden Age of Hollywood and Mexican Cinema” painted by Angel Hernandez in 2004. What was once the city’s very first movie theater is now a place where you can host your own celebration in the private event center – still a place for the community to come together to experience joy and entertainment.

And then you’ve made it! Walking into Market Days, you ground yourself to decide: should you go get a delicious snack at one of the many great food vendors…or should you start walking and seeing if you can find yourself some cool bric-a-brac…or maybe something more? Maybe you decide to walk, but which way? The first vendors of Market Days start at the beginning of Jackson Street and travel all the way down past the railroad tracks at Centennial Park! With so much to see and do, it can be a great way to get some exercise while enjoying the day by helping support local shops, listening to some live music, and seeing so many of the great members of this community come together to help our city thrive.

This particular Market Days was especially delightful because it was the celebration of 25 years of the special event. Even the first 500 guests who visited the downtown tent received a free 25th Anniversary Market Days tote bag! If you attended, then you might have been able to get one for yourself. You also got to experience the great weather that started the event with overcast skies and ended with sunshine. The energy shift from a sleepy, early-morning excitement to the joy of finding the perfect thing to take home with you made the market that much more enjoyable. The sun came out when Harlingen did, and it was the most perfect example of the shine the city gets when its residents come together to celebrate and support.

This local event brings all types of people together. Like those who are discovering the coolness of previously loved vintage clothing, to authors wanting to spread happiness through storytelling, and even to the organic raw honey makers keeping your cup of tea sweet and fresh. And where else can you get a couple of new additions for your garden, K-Pop Demon Hunters merch for your niece who’s totally obsessed, and fresh homemade salsa for taco night on the same trip? Everything fun and cool to look at and appreciate is here, all in one place. Also, while you’re shopping and mingling, you can hear live music. Every few blocks might be a different sound, though, because Market Days is host to at least three different bands (and sometimes even a DJ!) playing great tunes! But don’t let the classic throwbacks and fun beats make you forget about the many food vendors that help keep downtown smelling delicious every first Saturday of the month.

Walking up and down Market Days can really stir up an appetite. By the time you know it, your stomach is growling from all the mouthwatering smells. The event starts at 9 a.m., and by the time you’ve satisfied that trinket-finding urge, it might be closer to noon. But do you eat breakfast or lunch? It’s the weekend and you’re at a fun event with your family or friends, so you think, “We’ll just have brunch!” And there are plenty of tasty food vendors to choose from. There’s someone selling pancakes if you want a classic brunch item, and even a hot dog stand to satisfy the simple snacker. But if you’re feeling in the mood for something more “weekend-y,” you can try the phenomenal brisket tacos usually being sold in Centennial Park. Whatever you decide, you always know it’s going to be a flavorfully good time.

After you eat, you may be thinking about heading home, but then you remember all the local shops located in the historic buildings that line Jackson Street! The treasure hunting doesn’t just stop at the lovely vendors; there’s so much more to explore in the antique shops, boutiques, the Harlingen Bazaar (which is home to many more awesome vendors), and even the Salvation Army, all located on Jackson. With a new perspective of not just more great shops, but also the feeling of history in all the original buildings of Downtown Harlingen, an appreciation for more than just another store starts to creep in.

A feeling of awe may appear because, how could it not? Original architecture and brick that hold the memories of the city of Harlingen are a fantastic thing to see, and if you haven’t yet experienced that, attend the next Market Days (don’t forget your rolling cart for your finds!) and try to see and feel from a different perspective. You might be pleasantly surprised to feel that these are places where the start of our city was born and is now home to all kinds of different people looking to also have roots in this great community…But our community isn’t just made of local business owners – there are also other creative locals who spread joy through other artistic avenues like storytelling. Keep reading to learn about our first Neighborhood Editorial’s local creative feature!

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LOCAL CREATIVE FEATURE: Liza Marie Saldaña, Author

Social media can sometimes be overwhelming with all the content we come across every day, but there are times when it can be helpful – especially when it brings awareness to Harlingen and those who are helping to bridge the gap between local history and the residents who make up our culture. By posting about them on their Instagram page, the Harlingen Arts and Heritage Museum helped 956creatives find a local author who is doing just that by telling the story of our wonderful city through a children’s book.

Liza Saldaña first became interested in local history in 2009 when she sent in her information to a genealogy website and discovered family she never knew, like a cousin who helped her come to know a little more of her family history and of the acres of land they owned called La Providencia Ranch. Her cousin also let her know that she had been trying for some time to find the exact location of the ranch. Through her research, Liza discovered an article originally published in the Valley Morning Star newspaper on August 5, 1990.

“Mystery of the week is the location of La Providencia Ranch!” the article starts. It was written by genealogist Annelle Clausen, and it goes on to explain how a descendant of an early resident was asking the community for help locating the ranch. It was once owned by Francisco Saldaña and his son, Jesus, from 1880 until about 1920, and its main occupation was sheep herding. The ranch also had a water well and, according to the article, was an “important life support source…that was used by surrounding ranchers and early Six Shooter Junction residents.” It mentions how Liza’s cousin, Santos Canales – a great-great-great-granddaughter of the family – was the one who was asking the public for help finding the location of the ranch, and the author writes how it would be a “grand step” in helping to document an early Rio Grande Valley family. Liza told 956creatives that she was finally able to discover for herself that the family ranch was settled on 170 acres of land, located near what we currently know as Lincoln Avenue close to Valle Vista Mall.

Liza wasn’t only inspired by her early family legacy, however, but by her own hardworking parents, Rolando and Elizabeth Saldaña. Also active members of the community, they both worked for HCISD. Rolando worked with them for 23 years before retiring, and Elizabeth for 16. It’s easy to see why Liza felt such an inclination to be active in her community as well, first by volunteering at the Harlingen Arts and Heritage Museum, where she deepened her love for local history. And also by writing about her family, who helped shape Harlingen into what it is today and giving local residents the opportunity to learn more about where they live. The first book she wrote is called La Providencia Ranch & Saldaña Family History, and there are plenty of amazing facts to learn about the family ranch. You can read about the woman who taught the children on it in 1903, Miss Margarita Villareal Lozano. In an excerpt from Liza’s book, it reads, “Margarita was the first teacher to teach on Providencia Ranch. She was 18 years old and was qualified to teach at one of the first schools in Harlingen. She met Don Guillermo Lozano, also from a pioneer family. His father was Santos Lozano, who built a general store, in 1906, on the main street, Jackson Street, in Harlingen, Texas.” From just a few sentences in this book, you can already see the history, and maybe even feel it the next time you visit Jackson Street…during the next Market Days, perhaps!

You can purchase Liza’s fascinating account of her lineage on the Barnes & Noble website. If you do, you can read more interesting things about her family and our city, like what Margarita says about the reaction to the first train that came into Harlingen! But Liza’s inspiration kept coming, and she didn’t stop at her first book. She wrote another one – her most recent – called The Story of Harlingen. As mentioned earlier, this story is a children’s book. We asked her, “Why is it important to share these kinds of stories with others, including kids?” She replied passionately, “Because you learn the history, you learn the background of how the community was helping each other at a time when there wasn’t much…and I feel even for the younger generation [it’s important] to learn the past…so they can try to make a change and help out.”

Talking more about her recent book, Liza tells us about the Bobo House at the Harlingen Arts and History Museum. In need of repair, it was previously located at 521 East Harrison. Once a daycare, the museum has discussed possibly renovating the historic house into something that can be used for kids once again. During a brainstorming session, Liza thought, “What kind of activities can we have for kids at the museum?” Maybe activities that are not only fun, but can also help raise awareness about our local museum and history as well. She mentions reading a book about Harlingen called At the Crossroads: Harlingen’s First 100 Years, 1910-2010, written by Eileen Mattei. She thought the author did a wonderful job documenting the history of Harlingen. However, Liza wondered, “Is there something for children to learn about our city?” She couldn’t find anything. So she fixed that! And that’s how The Story of Harlingen was born. She wrote it with children in mind, making sure it was simple enough for young kids to comprehend, but also by, “…using real photographs as references with bright colors to keep them engaged with it.” She also said, “It would be a fun read and they would also learn the backstory…and if they see those buildings [in Harlingen] they would be like ‘oh I saw that building in that book!’” 956creatives agreed with Liza on how interactive it would be for them to experience and to be able to have fun with local history.

We talked about how her volunteer work at the museum has shaped the way she thinks about her community, local history, and storytelling. We ended up talking more about Harlingen’s history, and the more we discussed it, the more we understood the answer to the question. Liza simply has a passion for her local history, family legacy, and understanding where she comes from;  and volunteering at the museum is a way to help her connect to that passion. The more she talked about it, the more you could feel her love of Harlingen and her desire to raise awareness for our city’s history. With two books out already, we asked when she developed her passion for writing. She said, “I had no intention of writing.” We laughed a bit and agreed that it just makes her books that much more special. She also said that people in her life didn’t expect writing to be a creative avenue she would take because she was already doing different types of creative projects like graphic design instead, restoring old photos. You can find her on Facebook under LMR PhotoRestore & Genealogy. She also helps others connect to their own family trees, like her husband’s grandfather. Liza was able to find all of his siblings whom he had been separated from years ago. “It makes me feel really good when I am able to bring family together like that,” she said.

 You can find The Story of Harlingen for sale at the Harlingen Arts and Heritage Museum and it will later be available on the Barnes & Noble website. And when asked if she has any other projects in the works, she simply said, “I do, I have other ideas,” with a mischievous chuckle. She doesn’t want to give away too much just yet, and 956creatives can appreciate that. So, whatever Liza Marie Saldaña has in the pipeline, this creative studio is ready to support anything she comes out with!

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Helpful Links and Sources:

https://texashighways.com/travel-news/happy-in-harlingen/
https://www.loopnet.com/Listing/115-E-Van-Buren-Ave-Harlingen-TX/4149095/
https://www.instagram.com/p/DWgn-4tlmhw/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
https://harlingen.advantage-preservation.com/viewer/?k=providencia%20ranch&i=f&d=01011901-12312024&m=between&ord=k1&fn=valley_morning_star_usa_texas_harlingen_19900805_english_43&df=1&dt=10
https://www.facebook.com/lmrphotorestore/
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/la-providencia-ranch-saldana-family-history-liza-saldana/1147834959