South Texas

South Texas is a region of the U.S. state of Texas that lies roughly south of and including San Antonio. The southern and western boundary is the Rio Grande River, and to the east it is the Gulf of Mexico. The population of this region is about 3.7 million. The southern portion of this region is often referred to as the Rio Grande Valley. The eastern portion along the Gulf of Mexico is also referred to as the Coastal Bend.

Boundaries[]

There is no defined northern boundary, although it is believed to be at the city of San Antonio and from an east to west line extending from the Rio Grande near Maverick County to the Gulf of Mexico, but turning southeast at or near Lavaca County, and continuing towards the Gulf of Mexico to separate it from East Texas and Southeast Texas. The Rio Grande serves as the western and southern boundaries and separates Texas from Mexico. The eastern portion of South Texas is bordered by the Gulf of Mexico.

Most populous cities[]

City	2000 Census Population^[1]	County
San Antonio	1,144,646	Bexar County
Corpus Christi	277,454	Nueces County
Laredo	176,576	Webb County
Brownsville	139,722	Cameron County
McAllen	106,414	Hidalgo County
Victoria	60,603	Victoria County
Harlingen	57,564	Cameron County
Edinburg	48,465	Hidalgo County
Pharr	46,660	Hidalgo County
Mission	45,408	Hidalgo County
Weslaco	26,935	Hidalgo County
San Juan	26,229	Hidalgo County
Kingsville	25,575	Kleberg County
San Benito	23,444	Cameron County
Eagle Pass	22,413	Maverick County
Alice	19,010	Jim Wells County

Some people consider Houston to be in South Texas for several reasons. Numerous businesses in the Houston region contain 'South Texas' in their titles.^[2] The South Texas College of Law is located in downtown Houston. The United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas includes the Houston division. And like South Texas, the city has a large Hispanic population. However, Houston is most accurately classified as being within Southeast Texas, a subregion of East Texas.

Counties[]

Multicultural influences[]

South Texas is well-known for a strong Hispanic, primarily Mexican American and Tejano (the Spanish term for Texan) influence, due to its proximity to Mexico. Many Tejanos and Mexicans living in South Texas are descended from the Spanish and Sephardic Jewish-Converso settlers of Mexico. These families have resided in North America for hundreds of years. This migration occurred and has been ongoing since the late 16th century in New Mexico and the early 18th century in South Texas. The U.S. annexation of South Texas and subsequent confiscation of lands previously granted by the Spanish authorities is a sore point among those descended from the Spanish colonial settlers. After the Mexican American War, Mexicans/Tejanos were personae non gratae in Texas and at times were killed or driven from their ancestral lands. (Library of Congress, Microfiche 7906177, also google a related article "Our Secret Heritage"). The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in the 1840s, failed to secure land belonging to the Hispanic settlers. The disputed area is between the Nueces River south of San Antonio and Corpus Christi, the King Ranch, and the Rio Grande River. Not recognized by Mexico nor the United States, The Republic of the Rio Grande was established in this region in 1840, lasting less than a year. Laredo, Texas served as its capital.

The Rio Grande Valley area played a significant role in the Mexican War of Independence, Civil War, Texas Independence, Mexican-American War with many historical battle sites around the area. General Robert E. Lee made residence in Fort Ringold (Rio Grande City) during this time as a Colonel. President Zachary Taylor was a General of the Army at Fort Brown (Brownsville) during the Mexican-American War.

The Texas Rangers gained popularity for their actions in South Texas during the Mexican bandit raids and the late 19th century and early 20th century. On May 25, 1876, a band of forty Texas Rangers rode out of Laredo and headed north to the infamous Nueces Strip. Their mission was to find, kill or capture John King Fisher, leader of a band of cattle rustlers and cut-throats that had been terrorizing the area. The Rangers were members of a select group known as the Special Force. Led by the legendary Leander McNelly, the Special Force was tasked with bringing law and order to an area of South Texas that lay between Corpus Christi and the Mexican border.

Transportation[]

Air Travel[]

San Antonio International Airport
Corpus Christi International Airport
Laredo International Airport
Valley International Airport
Victoria Regional Airport
McAllen-Miller International Airport
Brownsville/South Padre Island International Airport
Alice International Airport
South Texas International Airport at Edinburg
Aransas County Airport^[3]
Kleberg County Airport
Duval-Freer Airport
Mustang Beach Airport
San Jose Island Airport

Major Highways[]

Interstate Highways[]

Interstate 10
Interstate 35
Interstate 37
Interstate 69

United States Routes[]

U.S. Highway 59
U.S. Highway 77
U.S. Highway 83
U.S. Highway 87
U.S. Highway 181
U.S. Highway 281

Texas State Highways[]

Texas Highway 4
Texas Highway 16
Texas Highway 44
Texas Highway 107
Texas Highway 255
Texas Highway 336
Texas Highway 359
Texas Highway 361
Texas Highway 495
Texas Highway 141
Texas Highway 290

International Bridges[]

Laredo

Gateway to the Americas International Bridge
Juarez-Lincoln International Bridge
Texas-Mexican Railway International Bridge
World Trade International Bridge
Colombia-Solidarity International Bridge

Eagle Pass

Eagle Pass-Piedras Negras International Bridge
Camino Real International Bridge
Union Pacific International Railroad Bridge

Brownsville

Brownsville & Matamoros International Bridge
Veteran's International Bridge
Gateway International Bridge

Los Indios

Free Trade International Bridge

Falcon Hights

Lake Falcon Dam International Crossing

Hidalgo McAllen

McAllen-Hidalgo-Reynosa International Bridge
Anzalduas International Bridge

Pharr

Pharr-Reynosa International Bridge

Progreso

Progreso-Nuevo Progreso International Bridge

Rio Grande City

Rio Grande City-Camargo International Bridge

Roma

Roma-Ciudad Miguel Alemán International Bridge

Tourism[]

San Antonio

The Alamo
SeaWorld San Antonio
Six Flags Fiesta Texas
San Antonio River Walk
San Antonio Zoo
San Antonio Museum of Art
San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo

Corpus Christi

Mirador de la Flor (Selena Memorial Statue)
Texas State Aquarium
USS Lexington Museum Ship
Mustang Island & Mustang Island State Park
Padre Island National Seashore near Corpus Christi
Bayfest

Laredo

San Agustin de Laredo Historic District
Republic of the Rio Grande Capitol Building Museum
Washington's Birthday Celebration festivities during January and February

Rio Grande Valley

South Padre Island on Gulf Coast east of Brownsville
Gladys Porter Zoo in Brownsville

Other

King Ranch near Kingsville
Aransas National Wildlife Refuge

Education[]

Colleges[]

Alamo Community College District
- San Antonio College
- Palo Alto College
- St. Philip's College
- Northeast Lakeview College
- Northwest Vista College
Coastal Bend College
- Alice Campus
- Main Campus (Beeville)
- Kingsville Campus
- Pleasanton Campus
Del Mar College
Laredo Community College
- Laredo Community College South Campus
South Texas College
- Main Campus, McAllen
- Tech Campus, McAllen
- Nursing and Allied Health Campus, McAllen
- Mid-Valley Campus, Weslaco
- Starr County Campus, Rio Grande City
Texas State Technical College

Universities[]

Public universities[]

Texas A&M International University (Laredo)
Texas A&M University–Corpus Christi
Texas A&M University–Kingsville (Texas A&I)
Texas A&M University-San Antonio
University of Houston–Victoria
University of Texas at Brownsville
University of Texas–Pan American
University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio
University of Texas at San Antonio

Private universities[]

Our Lady of the Lake University
St. Mary's University
University of the Incarnate Word
Trinity University
Wayland Baptist University

Sports[]

The only major professional sports team in South Texas is the San Antonio Spurs in the NBA.

Team	Sport	League	Venue
San Antonio Spurs	Basketball	NBA	AT&T Center
San Antonio Silver Stars		WNBA	AT&T Center
Rio Grande Valley Vipers		NBA D-League	State Farm Arena
Corpus Christi Hammerheads	Arena Football	IFL	Central Pavilion Arena
Corpus Christi Hooks	Baseball	Texas League	Whataburger Field
San Antonio Missions		Texas League	Nelson W. Wolff Municipal Stadium
Laredo Broncos		United Baseball League	Veterans Field
Coastal Bend Thunder			Fairgrounds Field
Edinburg Roadrunners			Edinburg Stadium
Rio Grande Valley WhiteWings			Harlingen Field
San Antonio Rampage	Ice hockey	American Hockey League	AT&T Center
Corpus Christi IceRays		Central Hockey League	American Bank Center
Laredo Bucks			Laredo Energy Arena
Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees			State Farm Arena
Laredo Heat	Soccer	PDL	TAMIU Soccer Complex
Rio Grande Valley Bravos FC	Soccer	PDL	Valley View High School Stadium

Area codes[]

210 - San Antonio
361 - Corpus Christi, Alice, Victoria, Kingsville, Rockport
956 - Laredo, Brownsville, McAllen
830 - Eagle Pass, San Antonio
979 - only the southern half of this area is in South Texas

References[]

^ Census Fact Finder
^ [1]
^ Aransas County Airport Website Aransas Co Airport Call Sign: RKP(U.S), KRKP(International)

This page uses content from the English language Wikipedia. The original content was at South Texas. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with this Familypedia wiki, the content of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons License.

[1] Census Fact Finder

[2] [1]

[3] Aransas County Airport Website Aransas Co Airport Call Sign: RKP(U.S), KRKP(International)

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