![]() ![]() Rio Grande City continued to grow in the 1960s and by 1964 had a population of 6,435 and 130 businesses. Throughout the 1940s the population remained at 2,500. ![]() ![]() In August 1926 residents voted for incorporation, but the city went into debt during the Great Depression, and residents voted to unincorporate in May 1933 to avoid repayment of the sizable debt accrued for improvements to the town. In 1925 Rio Grande City reported a population of 3,000, but by 1931 it had 2,283 residents and ninety businesses. A series of investigations produced inconclusive findings but culminated in the withdrawal of the troops ( see FORT RINGGOLD). In another racial incident, members of the Black Ninth United States Cavalry fired toward the town in 1899, amid reports of a civilian attack on the garrison. Race relations were so tense that they helped give rise to the Rio Grande City Riot of 1888, in which the Mexican population was pitted against the White-controlled sheriff's office. By 1896 Rio Grande City had a population of 1,800, and by 1914 it had a bank and 2,100 residents. In 1884 the town had a population of 900, a doctor, two lawyers, a saloon, three carpenters, three grocers, nine general stores, a wagon maker, a druggist, two blacksmiths, two churches, a district school, a tailor, a furniture maker, a cornmill, and a hotel. Frequent encroachments from Mexico, most notably those of Juan Cortina in 1859, forced the community to rely often on the Texas Rangers and the United States Army for protection. During the nineteenth century Rio Grande City had an active passenger and cargo ship trade with New Orleans and flourished as a cattle center. Despite the town's isolation and lack of transportation facilities for most of its history, external influences have affected it significantly. The town received a post office in 1849 in 1895 the name of the post office changed from Rio Grande City to Riogrande, the name under which it now operates. The establishment of Fort Ringgold in 1848, immediately adjacent to the town, assured its growth and permanence. He designed the port with broad straight streets, on the model of the capital city, Austin. Davis had acquired the land upon Garza Falcón's death. The ranch later belonged to Henry Clay Davis, an adventurous Kentuckian who survived the Mier expedition and formed the present town from Davis Landing or Rancho Davis in 1847 after marrying María Hilaria de la Garza, the granddaughter of Francisco de la Garza Martínez. The site was part of the Carnestolendas Ranch, established in 1762 by José Antonio de la Garza Falcón in the Spanish colony of José de Escandón. It is an international port of entry connected by bridge to Camargo, Tamaulipas. Rio Grande City, the county seat of Starr County and one of the oldest settlements in South Texas, is on the Rio Grande 100 miles from both Brownsville and Laredo in the extreme south central part of the county. ![]()
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