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Founding
Founding of Laredo
city in and county seat of Webb County, Texas, United States
- 1755
- North America
Founding
city in and county seat of Webb County, Texas, United States
Fetching the article from Wikipedia…
Laredo (English pronunciation: /ləˈɹeɪdoʊ/ ⓘ; Spanish pronunciation: [laˈɾeðo] ⓘ) is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat and largest city of Webb County, on the north bank of the Rio Grande in South Texas, across from Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, Mexico. Founded in 1755, Laredo grew from a village to the capital of the short-lived Republic of the Rio Grande to the largest inland port on the Mexican border. Laredo's economy is primarily based on international trade with Mexico, and as a major hub for three areas of transportation: land, rail, and air cargo. The city is on the southern end of I-35, which connects manufacturers in northern Mexico through Interstate 35 as a major route for trade throughout the U.S. It has four international bridges and two railway bridges.
According to the 2020 census, the city's population was 255,205, making it the 11th-most populous city in Texas and third-most populated U.S. city on the Mexican border, after San Diego, California, and El Paso, Texas. Its metropolitan area is the 178th-largest in the U.S. and includes all of Webb County, with a population of 267,114. Laredo is also part of the cross-border Laredo-Nuevo Laredo metropolitan area with an estimated population of 636,516.
Laredo's Hispanic proportion of 95.15% is one of the highest proportion of Hispanic Americans of any city in the United States outside of Puerto Rico.
Texas A&M International University and Laredo College are in Laredo. Laredo International Airport is within the Laredo city limits, while the Quetzalcoatl International Airport is nearby in Nuevo Laredo on the Mexican side.
The biggest festival, Washington's Birthday Celebration, is held during the later part of January and the majority of February, attracting hundreds of thousands of tourists.
The Spanish colonial settlement of Villa de San Agustín de Laredo was founded in 1755 by Don Tomás Sánchez de la Barrera, while the area was part of the Nuevo Santander region in the Spanish viceroyalty of New Spain. Villa de San Agustín de Laredo was named after Laredo, Cantabria, Spain and in honor of Saint Augustine of Hippo. In 1840, Laredo was the capital of the independent Republic of the Rio Grande, set up in opposition to Antonio López de Santa Anna; it was brought back into Mexico by military force.
In 1846 during the Mexican–American War, the town was occupied by the Texas Rangers. After the war, the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo ceded the land to the United States. A referendum was taken in the town, which voted to petition the American military government in charge of the area to return the town to Mexico. When this petition was rejected, many who had been in the area for generations, moved across the river into Mexican territory, where they founded Nuevo Laredo. Many others, especially original land grantees on the north side of the Rio Grande remained, becoming Texans in the process. In 1849, the United States Army set up Fort McIntosh (originally Camp Crawford). Laredo was rechartered as a city in 1852.
Laredo is one of the oldest crossing points along the Mexico–United States border, and the nation's largest inland port of entry. In 2005, Laredo celebrated the 250th anniversary of its founding.
The etymology of the name for the Spanish town of Laredo is unclear. Some scholars say the name stems from glaretum, which means "sandy, rocky place". Others state Laredo stems from a Basque word meaning "beautiful pastures". Laredo might also stem from the Latin larida, which means gull.
Cellist Yo-Yo Ma brought his Bach Project to the Juarez–Lincoln International Bridge in April 2019.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 102.6 square miles (265.7 km2), of which 1.5 square miles (3.9 km2) (1.37%) are covered by water.
Laredo is on the west end of the Rio Grande Plains, south of the Edwards Plateau, west of the Coastal Plains, and east of the Mexican Mountains. The area consists of a few hills and flat land covered with grasses, oaks, and mesquite.
Notable geographic features are the Rio Grande and Chacon Creek's man-made reservoir, Lake Casa Blanca, in Lake Casa Blanca International State Park. The lake is 371 acres (1.5 km2) of land and 1,650 acres (7 km2) of water. The six major creeks are Chacon Creek, San Ildefonso Creek, San Ygnacio Creek, Santa Isabel Creek, Sombrerillito Creek, and Zacate Creek, all of which drain into the Rio Grande. Several man-made reservoirs include the San Ildefonso Creek Lake (second-largest reservoir), and the Sombrerillito Creek Lake (third-largest reservoir).
Laredo is considered to have a hot semi-arid climate (Köppen, BSh). with sweltering temperatures in the summer and mild temperatures during the winter. Its weather is affected by the Sierra Madre Oriental mountains to the west, the Gulf of Mexico to the east, and the Chihuahuan Desert of Northern Mexico and West Texas. Moisture from the Pacific is cut off by the Mexican mountain range.
The normal monthly mean temperature ranges from 57.6 °F (14.2 °C) in January to 89.1 °F (31.7 °C) in August; official record temperatures range from 11 °F (−11.7 °C) on December 30, 1983, up to 115 °F (46.1 °C) on May 7, 1927, June 17, 1908, and June 19, 2023. On average, temperatures reach 100 °F (37.8 °C) or higher on 74.2 afternoons annually, and fall to or below the freezing mark on 4.6 mornings, although, in five seasons, the annual minimum temperature was above freezing.
Rainfall averages 19.7 in (500 mm) annually, with higher amounts typically occurring from May to October, with peaks in May and September separated by a secondary minimum due to a westward shift of the subtropical anticyclone and divergence between the westerlies and trade winds. Actual annual rainfall has ranged from 6.65 inches or 168.9 millimetres in 2011 to 42.28 inches or 1,073.9 millimetres in 1971. The highest monthly rainfalls have been 12.94 inches or 328.7 millimetres in September 1923, 12.45 inches or 316.2 millimetres in July 1919, 12.29 inches or 312.2 millimetres in June 1973 and 11.54 inches or 293.1 millimetres in September 1971. The heaviest daily rainfall has been 7.55 inches or 191.8 millimetres on July 28, 1903. In contrast, not even a trace fell for 108 days from May 12 to August 28 of 1917.
Measurable snow in Laredo has occurred in only five seasons since records began in 1902:
As of the 2020 census, 255,205 people, 75,037 households, and 58,294 families resided in the city.
The median age was 30.6 years. 30.1% of residents were under the age of 18 and 10.3% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 94.6 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 91.1 males age 18 and over.
98.0% of residents lived in urban areas, while 2.0% lived in rural areas.
There were 75,037 households in Laredo, of which 48.6% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 50.4% were married-couple households, 15.3% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 28.8% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 16.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 6.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.
There were 80,734 housing units, of which 7.1% were vacant. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.2% and the rental vacancy rate was 8.2%.
According to the 2010 U.S. census, the racial composition of Laredo was:
As of the 2010, Laredo is the 81st-largest city in the United States and the 10th-largest in Texas. According to the 2010 census there were 236,091 inhabitants in the city.
According to respondents' self-identification on the 2010 Census, the vast majority of Laredo's population is of Hispanic origin (95.6%), mostly Mexican (86.9%). Most Hispanics who did not identify themselves as Mexican identified as "other Hispanic or Latino" (8.3% of the total population). About 84.3% of the population identifies as white Hispanic, while only 11.3% identifies as Hispanic but not white; 4.4% of the population was not Hispanic or Latino (3.4% non-Hispanic White, 0.2% non-Hispanic Black or African American, 0.6% non-Hispanic Asian, 0.1% from some other race (non-Hispanic), and 0.1% of two or more races (non-Hispanic)).
The 2005 estimate listed 99,675 males and 108,112 females. The average household contained 3.69 occupants. The population density was 2,250.5 inhabitants per square mile (868.9/km2).
Of the 60,816 households, 56,247 or 92.5% were occupied: 33,832 were owner-occupied units and 22,415 were renter-occupied units. About 62.0% were married couples living together, 18.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 14.7% were not families. Around 12.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 5.2% had someone living alone who was 65 or older. The average household size was 3.69, and the average family size was 4.18.
The city's population is distributed as 35.5% under the age of 18, 11.4% from 18 to 24, 29.5% from 25 to 44, 15.8% from 45 to 64, and 7.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 27 years. For every 100 females, there were 92.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 87.2 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $32,019, and for a family was $32,577. The per capita income for the city was $12,269; 29.2% of families were below the poverty line.
According to the United States Census Bureau, at a 2000 census, Laredo was the second-fastest growing city in the United States, after Las Vegas.
In 2016, the violent crime rate in Laredo dropped to 379 per 100,000 inhabitants, according to AreaVibes. The violent crime rate in Dallas was 694 per 100,000 inhabitants. In Houston, it was 967 per 100,000 inhabitants.
South Texas banking institutions in Laredo include Falcon International Bank, International Bank of Commerce, and Texas Community Bank.
Laredo is the largest inland port in the United States, and Nuevo Laredo the largest in Latin America. This is due to their respective locations, served by Interstate Highway 35 / Mexican Federal Highway 85, the effects of NAFTA, dozens of twin assembly plants on the Mexican side, and dozens of import export agencies to expedite trade. In January 2014, the Laredo customs district processed "$20 billion in two-way trade with Mexico", about half that for the entire US with Mexico for the month. Laredo is a shopping destination for Mexican shoppers from Northern Mexico. In 2015, the San Antonio Express-News reported the number of Mexican shoppers has declined due to drug war-related violence in Nuevo Laredo.
More than 47% of United States international trade headed for Mexico and more than 36% of Mexican international trade crosses through the Laredo port of entry. Laredo's economy revolves around commercial and industrial warehousing, import, and export. As a major player in international trade, the Laredo area benefited from passage of the North American Free Trade Agreement, which has encouraged trade. The Laredo port of entry consists of four international bridges (with a proposed fifth one) crossing the Rio Grande into the Mexican states of Tamaulipas and Nuevo León.
Retail sales attract shoppers from Northern Mexico and South Texas. There is one indoor shopping mall in Laredo, Mall del Norte, The Outlet Shoppes at Laredo, and another has not progressed past planning: Laredo Town Center, part of downtown redevelopment. There are dozens of shopping centers. The Streets of Laredo Urban Mall is an association created by businesses on Iturbide Street in the San Agustin historical district to beautify and renovate the area, which has a pedestrian scale.
As of October 2007, Laredo's labor market was in the following industries by percentage of number employed: Trade, Transportation, and Utilities (32%), Information (1%), Financial Activity (5%), Professional and Business Services (6%), Education and Health Services (15%), Leisure and Hospitality (10%), Government (23%), Mining and Construction (5%), Manufacturing (2%), and Other Services (2%).
Laredo has increased the number of nonagricultural jobs from 55,100 in January 1996 to 86,600 in October 2007. Laredo has had a higher job growth rate (2%–6.5%) than the state as a whole because of expanded international trade through NAFTA. In 2007, Laredo experienced a job growth rate of 2.5% with the unemployment rate as of October 2007, standing at 4.1% or 3,700 unemployed persons, as compared to 3.9% in Texas statewide. This is a significant drop since the mid-1990s, when Laredo's unemployment was over 15%.
Text from the Wikipedia article “Laredo, Texas”, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.