The Calexico West Port of Entry (formerly known simply as the Calexico Port of Entry, and sometimes called the "Downtown" port of entry) is one of two ports of entry in the

Imperial Valley , photo = Salton Sea from Space.jpg , photo_caption = The Imperial Valley below the Salton Sea. The US-Mexican border runs diagonally across the lower left of the image. , map_image = Newriverwatershed-1-.jpg , map_caption = Map of Imperial ...

area of California. It is located in the business center of the

Calexico Calexico () is a city in southern Imperial County, California. Situated on the Mexican border, it is linked economically with the much larger city of Mexicali, the capital of the Mexican state of Baja California. It is about east of San Diego ...

Mexicali Mexicali (; ) is the capital city of the Mexican state of Baja California. The city, seat of the Mexicali Municipality, has a population of 689,775, according to the 2010 census, while the Calexico–Mexicali metropolitan area is home to 1,000,0 ...

metropolitan area that is divided by an international boundary. This crossing has easy access north to Interstate 8 via California State Route 111.

Mexican Federal Highway 5 Federal Highway 5 ( es, Carretera Federal 5, Fed. 5) is a tollfree part of the federal highways corridors ( es, los corredores carreteros federales), and follows the northeast length of the state of Baja California from the US-Mexico bord ...

then begins its journey to the south. The

General Services Administration The General Services Administration (GSA) is an independent agency of the United States government established in 1949 to help manage and support the basic functioning of federal agencies. GSA supplies products and communications for U.S. gover ...

is currently implementing a multi-year facility upgrade that will dramatically change the appearance and throughput of the border crossing.

History

United States Inspection Station, Calexico, California

There has been a border crossing at Calexico since the late 19th century. The area grew substantially when irrigation converted the barren

into fertile agricultural land. Irrigation happened as a direct result of a huge flood (combined with topsoil) in 1906 when the Colorado River burst its channel due to the California Development Company's poor engineering. Enter George Chaffey and his Imperial Land Company who solved the flood problem and laid out the towns of Calexico, El Centro, Imperial (among others) and in Mexico... Mexicali. So with his work he was allowed to name the valley as the Imperial Valley. The historic border inspection station on Heffernan Avenue was built in 1933. It was listed on the U.S.

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

in 1992, and remains today as US government office space. In 1974, a new port of entry was built two blocks to the west, adjacent to the international rail crossing.

References

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External links

Calexico West Port of Entry
at the

History

References

External links

See also