Lantana, Cameron County, Texas

Lantana is an unincorporated community in Cameron County, Texas, United States. According to the Handbook of Texas, the community had a population of 137 in 2000. It is located within the Rio Grande Valley and the Brownsville-Harlingen metropolitan area.

History
Lantana was established as a switch and loading station on the Texas and New Orleans Railroad circa 1927. The railroad had built a track from Brownsville to Edinburg. The community transferred from ranching to farming all thanks to the San Benito Irrigation Canal. Lantana had 25 residents served by two stores in 1935. It grew to have two more businesses, a factory, several scattered houses, and 50 inhabitants in 1948. Only scattered houses remained in the area in 1956 and the community experienced little change in the mid-1970s. The Southern Pacific Railroad continued serving Lantana in the early 1990s, even though it was listed as a dispersed rural community. Its population was 137 in 2000.

Geography
Lantana is located near the intersection of Texas State Highway 345 and Farm to Market Road 1561 on the Southern Pacific Railroad, 3 mi southeast of Rio Hondo in north-central Cameron County.

Education
Lantana had its own school in 1935. Today, the community is served by the Rio Hondo Independent School District.