Part of the Carricitos land grant issued in 1790 by the King of Spain to Jose Narcisso Cavozos, this agricultural community and the surrounding farmland were developed soon after the Missouri Pacific Railroad extended a branch line to this area in 1926. The San Perlita Development Company cleared more than twenty thousand acres of land for growing staple, vegetable, and citrus crops and laid out the townsite of San Perilta. Since its development, the area has made significant contributions to the quality of life in this part of the Rio Grande Valley. (1984)