Alice, Texas

Alice is a city in and the county seat of Jim Wells County, Texas, United States, in the South Texas region of the state. As of the 2020 census, Alice had a population of 17,891. Alice was established in 1888. The city was originally named "Bandana", then "Kleberg", and finally "Alice" after Alice Gertrudis King Kleberg, the daughter of Richard King, who established the King Ranch.

Alice originated from the defunct community of Collins, 3 miles (5 km) to the east. c. 1880, the San Antonio and Aransas Pass Railway attempted to build a line through Collins, which then had approximately 2,000 inhabitants. The townspeople were not amenable to selling their land to the railroad company; consequently, the railroad site was moved 3 miles west, and in 1883, a depot called "Bandana" was established at its junction with the Corpus Christi, San Diego and Rio Grande Railway. Bandana soon became a thriving cattle-shipping point, and an application for a post office was made under the name "Kleberg" in honor of Robert Justus Kleberg, a veteran of the Battle of San Jacinto. The petition was denied because a town named Kleberg already appeared on the post office list, so residents then chose the name "Alice", in honor of Alice Gertrudis King Kleberg, Robert Justus Kleberg Jr.’s wife and the daughter of Richard and Henrietta King. The Alice post office opened for business in 1888. Within a few years, the remaining residents of Collins moved to Alice, which was by then a thriving community.

Alice was known for its large cattle industry until the discovery of petroleum beneath and around the town in the 1940s, which caused a slight population boom.

In the 1948 United States Senate election in Texas, an incident (Box 13 scandal) involving Lyndon B. Johnson's bid for the U.S. Senate took place at Alice's Precinct 13, where 202 ballots were cast in alphabetical order and all just at the close of polling in favor of Johnson. Johnson won the election against Coke Stevenson by 87 votes.

Alice has long been recognized as the "Birthplace of Tejano Music", dating back to the mid-1940s, when Armando Marroquin Sr., of Alice and partner Paco Betancourt of San Benito launched what was to be the first home-based recording company to record Tejano artists exclusively. Ideal Records, which was based in Alice, under the direction of Marroquin became the perfect vehicle for Tejano groups and artists to get their music to the public. Marroquin, who also owned and operated a jukebox company, ensured that Ideal recordings would be distributed throughout South Texas. The songs recorded, which were contributed by Tejano and Mexican composers, became very popular through jukeboxes placed in restaurants, cantinas, or other establishments that would have them, and the then-scarce Spanish-language radio programs. In addition to Ideal, Alice was the home of Freddie Records and Hacienda Records, which were dominant players in Tejano music in the 1970s and 1980s.

Alice is the birthplace of two Nobel Prize winners. Robert F. Curl Jr. was honored with a Nobel Prize in chemistry in 1996, and James P. Allison won a Nobel for his work in medicine in 2018.

Alice is located in central Jim Wells County at 27°45′02″N 98°04′14″W / 27.750652°N 98.070460°W / 27.750652; -98.070460 (27.750652, –98.070460). According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 12.6 square miles (32.6 km²), of which 12.0 square miles (31.1 km²) are land and 0.58 square miles (1.5 km²), or 4.66%, are covered by water. Alice falls within the boundaries of South Texas and the Texas Coastal Bend region.

U.S. Route 281 passes just west of the city limits on a bypass. The highway leads north 41 miles (66 km) to George West and south 37 miles (60 km) to Falfurrias. Texas State Highway 44 passes through the center of town as Front Street and leads east 26 miles (42 km) to Robstown and west 35 miles (56 km) to Freer. Texas State Highway 359 joins SH 44 through the center of Alice, but leads northeast 30 miles (48 km) to Mathis and southwest 53 miles (85 km) to Hebbronville.