Understanding the Labor: A Historical Spanish Land Unit
Published: 1952
Updated: March 1, 1995
A labor (pronounced lah-bór) was a Spanish land unit measuring 177 acres. Under the Mexican colonization act by which the first settlers entered the Stephen F. Austin colony in Texas, heads of families engaged in farming were to receive a labor of land each. Cattle raisers received a sitio or league. Most of the original settlers combined ranching and farming and received a league and a labor.
Bibliography:
The following, adapted from the Chicago Manual of Style, 15th edition, is the preferred citation for this entry.
Anonymous, “Labor [Land Unit],” Handbook of Texas Online, accessed March 09, 2026, https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/labor-land-unit.
Published by the Texas State Historical Association.
TID:
PFL01
- 1952
- March 1, 1995
