Beautiful, Well Started, Well Bred, blk/gry

With the continued growth of the King Ranch in the mid to late 19th century, the desire for a railroad through the region increased, both to connect the communities of the Rio Grande Valley to the rest of Texas, and to serve the King Ranch. At the turn of the 20th century, Henrietta King deeded a portion of the ranch to entice the construction of a town and to bring the railroad adjacent to the ranch. Robert Justus Kleberg, Jr., the ranch manager, formed the Kleberg Town and Improvement Company in 1903, tasked with planning and constructing the town. In 1904, the community was planned three miles from the King Ranch headquarters and was named in honor of the founder of the King Ranch, Richard King. That same year, construction of the St.