The Pecos Cantaloupe

Pecos cantaloupes became a nationally famed melon originating in this city, where residents had grown melons in gardens since the 1880s and observed that the sun and soil gave them a distinctive flavor. Madison L. Todd, born March 22, 1875, and his wife Julia, born January 30, 1880, came from east Texas and New Mexico. In 1917, Todd and his partner D.T. McKee planted eight acres of melons and sold part of the crop to dining cars on the Texas & Pacific Railway, where Pecos cantaloupes first gained popularity and wide demand. McKee soon left the business, but Todd remained a leader in it for 41 years. Helen Keller, Presidents Eisenhower and Johnson, and many other distinguished people ordered and enjoyed Pecos cantaloupes, and exclusive clubs in New York, Chicago, Saint Louis, and other cities became regular customers of Pecos growers. Genuine Pecos cantaloupes begin ripening in July and remain on the market until late October. Although the varieties are the same as those grown elsewhere, climate, soil, and special cultivation methods give Pecos melons their distinctiveness. Two thousand acres are planted annually, and in his later years M.L. Todd was known as the father of the industry while he, his wife, and their family were leaders in civic and religious enterprises.

Town of Pecos, Texas · United States