Edinburg, TX news and local guide

In 1908 John Closner, William Briggs, Argyle McAllen, Plutarco de la Vina and Dennis B. Chapin began developing a new community whose town square stood at today's crossroads of U.S. 281 and State Highway 107, and they named it Chapin for one of the developers. A local myth says the town became the Hidalgo County seat when county records were secretly carried off at night from the old seat, but the records point to practical reasons. The 1886 courthouse in Hidalgo stood only yards from the Rio Grande and was often threatened by floods, and state law required the courthouse to be near the center of a county then more than 80 miles long. A wood-frame courthouse was built beside the Chapin square in 1908, and construction of a grand courthouse on the square began in 1910.

More about Edinburg

After Dennis Chapin was involved in a fatal shooting at a San Antonio saloon, the town changed its name to Edinburg in honor of John Young, a prominent businessman born in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was officially renamed in 1911 and incorporated in 1919. In the 1920s the city promoted itself to tourists as the Gateway to the Valley. Sources Wikipedia: Edinburg, Texas