Santa Elena

Santa Elena is on Farm Road 755 six miles northwest of San Isidro in northeastern Starr County. The community existed by at least 1899, when the Santa Elena school reported an enrollment of twenty-five. A post office was established at Santa Elena in 1909, and by 1925 the town had a population of fifteen. During the late 1920s its population reached 150, and in 1931 it was reported as 200, with ten businesses. By 1936 the community comprised several houses and farm units, and the Texas Almanac reported a population of fifteen with nine businesses in the area. During the 1940s, 1950s, and early 1960s, the population estimates varied from 150 to 200, but dropped to sixty by 1966. The 1970s and 1980s saw little change in the community's population, and during the early 1990s it remained a small dispersed rural community with an estimated population of sixty-four. The population remained the same in 2000.