Brownsville

Sister cities

• Barranquilla
• Guadalajara
• Heroica Matamoros

History

In 1781, Spanish government officials granted José Salvador de la Garza 59 leagues of land (408 sq mi). He used the land to construct a ranch several miles northwest of the area. During the early 1800s, Brownsville was known to residents as los tejidos (English: "pasturelands"). Settler presence grew around 1836 when Texas colonial rule declared its independence from Mexico. On February 4, 1846, United States President James K. Polk instructed American General Zachary Taylor and his troops, including 2nd LT. Ulysses S. Grant, to begin moving south towards what was still remembered as los tejidos. Once Taylor arrived, he built Fort Texas. It was later renamed Fort Brown for Major Jacob Brown, one of two American soldiers who died during the siege of Fort Texas. Charles Stillman arrived in Matamoros in 1828 from Connecticut to help his father in the cotton trade. and Simon Mussina to form the Brownsville Town Company. They reportedly sold lots valued at $1,500 following displacement of prior residents. Brownsville was originally established as a U.S. recognized city in late 1848 following Stillman's colonization efforts, and was made the county seat of Cameron County on January 13, 1849. The state originally incorporated the city on January 24, 1850. This was repealed on April 1, 1852, because of a land-ownership dispute between Stillman and its former owners (including Juan Cortina, a Mexican rancher). The state reincorporated the city on February 7, 1853; this remains in effect. The issue of ownership was not decided until 1879, when the United States Supreme Court ruled in favor of Stillman. American General Zachary Taylor retreated from Fort Texas on May 1, 1846; Mexican General Mariano Arista began preparing artillery and troops from across the Rio Grande. On May…

Geography

Brownsville is one of the southernmost cities in the contiguous United States; only a handful of municipalities in Florida's Miami-Dade and Monroe Counties (plus Everglades City, Collier County) are located farther south than Brownsville. The city has a total area of , of which are land and are water, according to the United States Census Bureau of 2017. Brownsville is situated at the intersection of several different climates zones, such as the subtropics, the Chihuahuan Desert, the Gulf Coastal Plain, and the southern reach of the American Great Plains, thus attracting high numbers of migratory birds, and creating a unique biome for many species of plants and animals. Its idiosyncratic network of resacas (English: oxbow lakes), distributaries of the Rio Grande, provide habitat for numerous nesting and breeding birds, typically during the spring and fall migrations. Brownsville's vegetation is classified as grassland. Brownsville is in one metropolitan statistical area as defined by the United States Census Bureau. The Brownsville–Harlingen–Raymondville combined statistical area consists of Cameron County and Willacy County. It includes the Brownsville metropolitan area and the micropolitan area of Raymondville. The city of Raymondville is the county seat of Willacy County. The Brownsville-Harlingen-Raymondville combined statistical area is home to 445,309 people (2017 estimated), making it the 106th-largest combined statistical area in the United States. Based on the Uniform Crime Report conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation in 2013, the Brownsville metropolitan area ranked last on its list of the "Most Dangerous Cities" in Texas, with "240 incidents of violent crime per 100,000 people" and a murder rate of 1.4. Robbery crimes make up 25% of overall…

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• Great-tailed Grackle

  Quiscalus mexicanus (Gmelin, 1788) · Aves
  28,345
• Northern Mockingbird

  Mimus polyglottos (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  23,488
• Turkey Vulture

  Cathartes aura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  20,576
• Golden-fronted Woodpecker

  Melanerpes aurifrons (Wagler, 1829) · Aves
  20,109
• Great Kiskadee

  Pitangus sulphuratus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  19,133
• Green Jay

  Cyanocorax yncas (Boddaert, 1783) · Aves
  16,418
• Laughing Gull

  Leucophaeus atricilla (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  16,329
• Northern Cardinal

  Cardinalis cardinalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  15,059

Most recent

• M 3.9 — 2017-11-13
  79 km SE of South Padre Island, Texas