El Lago

History

The city of El Lago was established in 1961 and over the years has been home to at least 47 astronauts, including Neil Armstrong, the first person to walk on the Moon; Buzz Aldrin, the lunar module pilot on the 1969 Apollo 11 mission and the second person to walk on the Moon; Jim Lovell, the command module pilot of Apollo 8 (making him one of the first three humans to fly to the Moon) and commander of the Apollo 13 mission; Story Musgrave, veteran of six Space Shuttle flights on five different orbiters; and Peggy Whitson, who in 2017 became the first female astronaut to command the International Space Station. Many houses in the neighborhood were custom built specifically for the astronauts and their families. The local elementary school is named for Ed White, who was the first American to walk in space, and there are two parks named for astronauts. There's the Neil Armstrong Park and McNair Memorial Park, named for astronaut Ronald McNair, who was killed when the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded. There is a pavilion named for Dr. Ellen Ochoa, a former astronaut and director of Johnson Space Center. In addition, the city's logo features a Space Shuttle.

Geography

El Lago is located at (29.572147, –95.043680). According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which is land and , or 8.45%, is water.

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• Northern Cardinal

  Cardinalis cardinalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  20,886
• Blue Jay

  Cyanocitta cristata (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  19,459
• Northern Mockingbird

  Mimus polyglottos (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  15,680
• Carolina Chickadee

  Poecile carolinensis (Audubon, 1834) · Aves
  15,050
• Mourning Dove

  Zenaida macroura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  13,401
• Laughing Gull

  Leucophaeus atricilla (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  12,588
• White-winged Dove

  Zenaida asiatica (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  11,925
• Red-bellied Woodpecker

  Melanerpes carolinus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  11,677