24/7 Biohazard and Crime Scene Cleanup in Realitos, TX

Realitos is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in southern Duval County, Texas, located on Macho Creek along the Texas-Mexican Railway, about twelve miles southwest of Benavides.

Realitos was established on the former Santos García Spanish land grant, and by 1885 it was already described as 'a settlement, also a ranch'; its first post office opened in 1886 with Charles Shaw as postmaster.

Realitos is said to have been named for the small camps — 'realitos' — of Mexican officers who were stationed in the area during the nineteenth century.

Realitos boomed quickly in its early years: by 1890 it had a Methodist church, two general stores and a population of 400, and just two years later an estimated 800 people lived there, supporting two churches, a school, two saloons and a cotton gin.

The town served as the local ranching headquarters for Edward C. Lasater, the bitter political enemy of Duval County boss Archer Parr.

Realitos has shrunk dramatically since its 1890s peak — the census counted 209 residents in 2000, 184 in 2010, and just 121 in 2020, spread across a CDP of only about 0.3 square miles.

Realitos kept its own school into the 1960s, but the school was consolidated into the Benavides Independent School District in the mid-1970s, and Benavides ISD still serves the community today.

In the 2000 census, Realitos' 209 residents lived in just 77 households, an average of about 2.7 people per home.