The Lower Rio Grande Valley ( es, Valle del Río Grande), commonly known as the Rio Grande Valley or locally as the Valley or RGV, is a region spanning the border of
Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...
and Mexico located in a
floodplain
A floodplain or flood plain or bottomlands is an area of land adjacent to a river which stretches from the banks of its channel to the base of the enclosing valley walls, and which experiences flooding during periods of high discharge.Goudi ...
of the
Rio Grande
The Rio Grande ( and ), known in Mexico as the Río Bravo del Norte or simply the Río Bravo, is one of the principal rivers (along with the Colorado River) in the southwestern United States and in northern Mexico.
The length of the Rio G ...
near its mouth.
The region includes the southernmost tip of
South Texas
South Texas is a region of the U.S. state of Texas that lies roughly south of—and includes—San Antonio. The southern and western boundary is the Rio Grande, and to the east it is the Gulf of Mexico. The population of this region is about 4.96 ...
and a portion of northern
Tamaulipas
Tamaulipas (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Tamaulipas ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Tamaulipas), is a state in the northeast region of Mexico; one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 Federal Entiti ...
, Mexico. It consists of the
Brownsville,
Harlingen,
Weslaco
Weslaco is a city in Hidalgo County, Texas, United States. As of the 2020 census the population was 41,103, and in 2020 the estimated population was 41,103. It is located at the southern tip of Texas in the Rio Grande Valley near the Mexi ...
,
Pharr,
McAllen
McAllen is the largest city in Hidalgo County, Texas, United States, and the 22nd-most populous city in Texas. It is located at the southern tip of the state in the Rio Grande Valley, on the Mexico–United States border. The city limits extend ...
,
Edinburg,
Mission
Mission (from Latin ''missio'' "the act of sending out") may refer to:
Organised activities Religion
*Christian mission, an organized effort to spread Christianity
*Mission (LDS Church), an administrative area of The Church of Jesus Christ of ...
,
San Juan, and
Rio Grande City
Rio Grande City is a city in and the county seat of Starr County, Texas. The population was 14,411 at the time of the 2020 census. The city is west of McAllen. The city also holds the March record high for the United States at . The city is c ...
metropolitan areas in the United States and the
Matamoros,
Río Bravo
The Rio Grande ( and ), known in Mexico as the Río Bravo del Norte or simply the Río Bravo, is one of the principal rivers (along with the Colorado River) in the southwestern United States and in northern Mexico.
The length of the Rio G ...
, and
Reynosa
Reynosa () is a border city in the northern part of the state of Tamaulipas, in Mexico. It is also the municipal seat of Reynosa Municipality.
The city is located on the southern bank of the Rio Grande in the international Reynosa–McAllen Metr ...
metropolitan areas in Mexico.
The area is generally bilingual in English and Spanish, with a fair amount of
Spanglish
Spanglish (a portmanteau of the words "Spanish" and "English") is any language variety (such as a contact dialect, hybrid language, pidgin, or creole language) that results from conversationally combining Spanish and English. The term is mos ...
due to the region's diverse history and
transborder agglomerations It is home to some of the poorest cities in the nation, as well as many unincorporated,
persistent poverty communities called
''colonias''. A large seasonal influx occurs of "winter Texans" — people who come down from the north for the winter and then return north before summer arrives.
History
Pre-Spanish colonization
![Langs_N](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a5/Langs_N.Amer.png)
Native peoples lived in small tribes in the area before the Spanish conquest.
The native tribes in South Texas were known to be hunter-gatherer peoples.
The area was known for its smaller nomadic tribes collectively called
Coahuiltecan
The Coahuiltecan were various small, autonomous bands of Native Americans who inhabited the Rio Grande valley in what is now southern Texas and northeastern Mexico. The various Coahuiltecan groups were hunter-gatherers. First encountered by Europ ...
.
Native archaeological excavations near Brownsville have shown evidence of prehistoric shell trading.
Spanish colonization
![Provincias_Internas_de_Oriente](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/91/Provincias_Internas_de_Oriente.jpg)
Initially, the Spanish had a hard time conquering the area due to the differences in native languages, so they mainly focused on the coast of the
Gulf of Mexico
The Gulf of Mexico ( es, Golfo de México) is an oceanic basin, ocean basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, largely surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of ...
also known as the Seno Mexicano.
Also, a major conflict existed on who would conquer the region. Antonio Ladrón de Guevara wanted to colonize the region, but the
Viceroy of New Spain
The following is a list of Viceroys of New Spain.
In addition to viceroys, the following lists the highest Spanish governors of the Viceroyalty of New Spain, before the appointment of the first viceroy or when the office of viceroy was vacant. M ...
José Tienda de Cuervo doubted Ladrón de Guevara's character, eventually leading to a royal Spanish declaration preventing Ladrón de Guevara from participating in colonization efforts.
The first ''
villa
A villa is a type of house that was originally an ancient Roman upper class country house. Since its origins in the Roman villa, the idea and function of a villa have evolved considerably. After the fall of the Roman Republic, villas became s ...
s'' in the region were settled in
Laredo and
Reynosa
Reynosa () is a border city in the northern part of the state of Tamaulipas, in Mexico. It is also the municipal seat of Reynosa Municipality.
The city is located on the southern bank of the Rio Grande in the international Reynosa–McAllen Metr ...
in 1767.
In 1805, the Spanish government solidified the autonomy of the region by defining the territory of
Nuevo Santander
Nuevo Santander (New Santander) was a region of the Viceroyalty of New Spain, covering the modern Mexican state of Tamaulipas and extending into modern-day southern Texas in the United States. A history of Texas, commissioned by the U.S. governme ...
as south of
the colony of Tejas from the
Nueces River
The Nueces River is a river in the U.S. state of Texas, about long. It drains a region in central and southern Texas southeastward into the Gulf of Mexico. It is the southernmost major river in Texas northeast of the Rio Grande. ''Nueces'' ...
south to
Tampico
Tampico is a city and port in the southeastern part of the state of Tamaulipas, Mexico. It is located on the north bank of the Pánuco River, about inland from the Gulf of Mexico, and directly north of the state of Veracruz. Tampico is the fifth ...
,
Charcas, and Valles.
The local government of the region had a rough start with various indigenous wars up until 1812. In 1821 after the
Mexican War of Independence
The Mexican War of Independence ( es, Guerra de Independencia de México, links=no, 16 September 1810 – 27 September 1821) was an armed conflict and political process resulting in Mexico's independence from Spain. It was not a single, co ...
, the state was renamed
Tamaulipas
Tamaulipas (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Tamaulipas ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Tamaulipas), is a state in the northeast region of Mexico; one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 Federal Entiti ...
.
Republic of Texas and annexation by the United States
![Arrowsmith_Map_of_Texas_1841_UTA](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a4/Arrowsmith_Map_of_Texas_1841_UTA.jpg)
The
Texas Revolution of 1835-1836 put the majority of what is now called the Rio Grande Valley under contested Texan sovereignty.
The area also became a thoroughfare for runaway slaves fleeing to Mexico.
In 1844, the United States under President
James K. Polk
James Knox Polk (November 2, 1795 – June 15, 1849) was the 11th president of the United States, serving from 1845 to 1849. He previously was the 13th speaker of the House of Representatives (1835–1839) and ninth governor of Tennessee (183 ...
annexed the Republic of Texas, against British and Mexican sentiments,
contributing to the onset of the
Mexican–American War
The Mexican–American War, also known in the United States as the Mexican War and in Mexico as the (''United States intervention in Mexico''), was an armed conflict between the United States and Mexico from 1846 to 1848. It followed the 1 ...
.
The area along the Rio Grande was the source of several major battles, including the
Battle of Resaca de la Palma
The Battle of Resaca de la Palma was one of the early engagements of the Mexican–American War, where the United States Army under General Zachary Taylor engaged the retreating forces of the Mexican ''Ejército del Norte'' ("Army of the North ...
near Brownsville. The war ended in 1848 with the signing of the
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ( es, Tratado de Guadalupe Hidalgo), officially the Treaty of Peace, Friendship, Limits, and Settlement between the United States of America and the United Mexican States, is the peace treaty that was signed on 2 ...
which defined the United States' southern border as the Rio Grande. The change in government led to a mass migration from Tamaulipas to the United States side of the river.
From the end of the Mexican-American War, the population of the Valley began to grow, and farmers began to raise cattle in the area.
Despite the end of the formal war in 1848, interracial strife continued between native peoples and the white settlers over land through the 1920s.
Early 1900s and the Mexican Revolution
![Book_of_Texas_(1916)_(14586900509)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a0/Book_of_Texas_%281916%29_%2814586900509%29.jpg)
At the turn of the 20th century trade and immigration between Mexico and the United States was a normal part of society.
The development of the
St. Louis, Brownsville, and Mexico Railway in 1903 and the irrigation of the Rio Grande allowed the Rio Grande Valley to develop into profitable farmland.
Droughts in the 1890s and early 1900s caused smaller farmers and cattle ranchers to lose their lands. Rich white settlers brought by the railroad bought the land and displaced the
Tejano
Tejanos (, ; singular: ''Tejano/a''; Spanish for "Texan", originally borrowed from the Caddo ''tayshas'') are the residents of the state of Texas who are culturally descended from the Mexican population of Tejas and Coahuila that lived in the ...
ranchers.
Meanwhile, across the river, Mexico was dealing with the
Mexican Revolution
The Mexican Revolution ( es, Revolución Mexicana) was an extended sequence of armed regional conflicts in Mexico from approximately 1910 to 1920. It has been called "the defining event of modern Mexican history". It resulted in the destruction ...
.
The revolution spilled over the border through cross-border supply raids, and in response
President Taft
William Howard Taft (September 15, 1857March 8, 1930) was the 27th president of the United States (1909–1913) and the tenth chief justice of the United States (1921–1930), the only person to have held both offices. Taft was elected pr ...
sent the
United States Army
The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...
into the region beginning in 1911 and continuing until 1916 when the majority of the United States armed forces were stationed in the region. Texas governor
Oscar Colquitt also sent the
Texas Rangers into the area to keep the peace between Mexicans and Americans.
The region played host to several well known conflicts including the backlash from the
Plan of San Diego
The Plan of San Diego ( es, Plan de San Diego) was drafted in San Diego, Texas, in 1915 by a group of unidentified Mexican and Tejano rebels who hoped to secede Arizona, New Mexico, California, and Texas from the United States. "It is called f ...
, and the racially fueled violence of Texas Ranger Harry Ransom.
In 1921 the
United States Border Patrol
The United States Border Patrol (USBP) is a Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement agency under the United States' U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Customs and Border Protection and is responsible for securing ...
came to the region with less than 10 officers. Initially the agency was focused on import and export business, especially alcohol during
Prohibition in the United States
In the United States from 1920 to 1933, a Constitution of the United States, nationwide constitutional law prohibition, prohibited the production, importation, transportation, and sale of alcoholic beverages. The alcohol industry was curtai ...
, but later moved to detaining illegal aliens.
The region had a significant increase of Border Patrol agents during
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
in conjunction with the
Zimmermann Telegram.
The Texas Rangers also increased their presence as law enforcement in the region with a new class of Ranger that focused on determining Tejano loyalty. They were often violent, carrying out retaliatory murders.
They were never held accountable to the law even though charges were brought in the Texas senate.
There were two major military training facilities in the Valley in
Brownsville and
Harlingen during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
.
Post World War II to present
The
North American Free Trade Agreement
The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA ; es, Tratado de Libre Comercio de América del Norte, TLCAN; french: Accord de libre-échange nord-américain, ALÉNA) was an agreement signed by Canada, Mexico, and the United States that crea ...
, also known as NAFTA, was established in 1994 as a trade agreement between the three North American countries, The United States, Mexico, and Canada. NAFTA was supposed to increase trade with Mexico as they lowered or eliminated tariffs on Mexican goods.
Exports and imports tripled in the region and accounted for a trade surplus of $75 billion.
The Rio Grande Valley benefited from NAFTA in retail, manufacturing, and transportation. Due to the influx of jobs and exportation, many people migrated to the RGV, both documented and undocumented.
According to Akinloye Akindayomi in ''Drug violence in Mexico and its impact on the fiscal realities of border cities in Texas: evidence from Rio Grande Valley counties'', NAFTA also indirectly aids the rise in immigration and drug smuggling practices between cartels in the region, with cartels profiting with over $80 billion.
The
Trump Administration
Donald Trump's tenure as the List of presidents of the United States, 45th president of the United States began with Inauguration of Donald Trump, his inauguration on January 20, 2017, and ended on January 20, 2021. Trump, a Republican Party ...
decided to make new accords with Mexico and Canada and replaced NAFTA with the new trade agreement,
United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement
The Agreement between the United States of America, the United Mexican States, and Canada (USMCA) Commonly known as the United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement (USMCA) in the United States and the Canada–United States–Mexico Agreement (CU ...
(USMCA) in 2018.
![Border_patrol_140127-A-WH280-544](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/ca/Border_patrol_140127-A-WH280-544.jpg)
After the
September 11 attacks
The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercia ...
, the Customs Border Security Act of 2001 established
United States Border Patrol interior checkpoints with some situated at the north end of the Rio Grande Valley. This allows for a second line of defense in the ever increasing subtlety of smuggling.
More recently the organization
We Build The Wall
We Build the Wall is an organization that solicited donations to build private sections of the wall along the Mexico–U.S. border. It started as a GoFundMe campaign by United States Air Force veteran Brian Kolfage in December 2018. Kolfage a ...
has begun construction on a section of the border wall in the Valley. Local residents have express concerns about the project including the site's proximity to the
National Butterfly Center
The National Butterfly Center is a private nature preserve operated by the North American Butterfly Association that serves as an outdoor butterfly conservatory. It is located adjacent to Bentsen-Rio Grande Valley State Park, near the city of M ...
and the Rio Grande with its potential for seasonal flooding. The
U.S. Section of the International Boundary and Water Commission has ordered We Build The Wall to stop until they can review whether or not the construction violates a
Treaty to resolve pending boundary differences and maintain the Rio Grande and Colorado River as the international boundary between the United States and Mexico signed in 1970.
Geography
![RGV map](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/13/RGV_map.jpg)
The Rio Grande Valley is not a true
valley
A valley is an elongated low area often running between Hill, hills or Mountain, mountains, which will typically contain a river or stream running from one end to the other. Most valleys are formed by erosion of the land surface by rivers ...
, but a
river delta
A river delta is a landform shaped like a triangle, created by deposition (geology), deposition of sediment that is carried by a river and enters slower-moving or stagnant water. This occurs where a river enters an ocean, sea, estuary, lake, res ...
. "Valley" is often used in the western United States to refer to a large expanse with rivers. Most such valleys, including the Rio Grande, have good agricultural production.
Early 20th-century land developers, attempting to capitalize on unclaimed land, utilized the name "Magic Valley" to attract settlers and appeal to investors. The Rio Grande Valley is also called ''El Valle'', the Spanish translation of "the valley", by those who live there. The main region is within four Texan counties:
Starr County,
Hidalgo County,
Willacy County
Willacy County is a county in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, its population was 20,164. Its county seat is Raymondville. The county was created in 1911 and organized the next year.
Willacy County comprises the Raymondville m ...
, and
Cameron County.
Major settlements
The largest city on the American side of the region is
Brownsville (Cameron County), followed by
McAllen
McAllen is the largest city in Hidalgo County, Texas, United States, and the 22nd-most populous city in Texas. It is located at the southern tip of the state in the Rio Grande Valley, on the Mexico–United States border. The city limits extend ...
(Hidalgo County). Other major cities include
Harlingen,
Edinburg,
Mission
Mission (from Latin ''missio'' "the act of sending out") may refer to:
Organised activities Religion
*Christian mission, an organized effort to spread Christianity
*Mission (LDS Church), an administrative area of The Church of Jesus Christ of ...
,
Rio Grande City
Rio Grande City is a city in and the county seat of Starr County, Texas. The population was 14,411 at the time of the 2020 census. The city is west of McAllen. The city also holds the March record high for the United States at . The city is c ...
,
Raymondville,
Weslaco
Weslaco is a city in Hidalgo County, Texas, United States. As of the 2020 census the population was 41,103, and in 2020 the estimated population was 41,103. It is located at the southern tip of Texas in the Rio Grande Valley near the Mexi ...
,
Hidalgo
Hidalgo may refer to:
People
* Hidalgo (nobility), members of the Spanish nobility
* Hidalgo (surname)
Places
Mexico
* Hidalgo (state), in central Mexico
* Hidalgo, Coahuila, a town in the north Mexican state of Coahuila
* Hidalgo, Nuevo Le ...
and
Pharr. On the
Mexican side of the border
Matamoros,
Río Bravo
The Rio Grande ( and ), known in Mexico as the Río Bravo del Norte or simply the Río Bravo, is one of the principal rivers (along with the Colorado River) in the southwestern United States and in northern Mexico.
The length of the Rio G ...
, and
Reynosa
Reynosa () is a border city in the northern part of the state of Tamaulipas, in Mexico. It is also the municipal seat of Reynosa Municipality.
The city is located on the southern bank of the Rio Grande in the international Reynosa–McAllen Metr ...
are major cities in this region.
Demographics
As of 2020, the U.S. Census Bureau estimated the population of the Rio Grande Valley at 1,368,723. Hidalgo County has the largest population with an estimate of 861,137. Cameron County has the second-highest population estimated at 422,135. Starr County has the third-largest population estimated at 64,032. Willacy County has the fourth-largest population estimated at 21,419.
According to the
U.S. Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of the ...
in 2008, 86 percent of Cameron County, 90 percent of Hidalgo County, 97 percent of Starr County, and 86 percent of Willacy County are
Hispanic
The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad.
The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to Vic ...
.
Colonias
![Dirt road texas](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0e/Dirt_road_texas.jpg)
The major metropolitan areas in the Rio Grande Valley are surrounded by smaller rural communities called
colonias. These communities are primarily poor and Hispanic.
The areas often lack basic services like sanitation and sewage, and suffer from flooding.
Many of these colonias are mixes of mobile homes and self-constructed houses owned by the residents. The
Bracero program enacted in the 1940s allowed Mexicans to cross the border and work in the agricultural fields. Most worked in the Rio Grande Valley, and due to a shortage of affordable houses, developers started selling them land in unincorporated areas; these clusters of homes over time became what are now known as colonias.
According to the Housing Assistance Council, a nonprofit organization that tracks rural housing, approximately 1.6 million people live in 1,500 recognized colonias alongside the
Mexico–United States border
The Mexico–United States border ( es, frontera Estados Unidos–México) is an international border separating Mexico and the United States, extending from the Pacific Ocean in the west to the Gulf of Mexico in the east. The border traver ...
.
Language use
The residents of the Lower Rio Grande Valley are generally bilingual in English and Spanish often mixing into
Spanglish
Spanglish (a portmanteau of the words "Spanish" and "English") is any language variety (such as a contact dialect, hybrid language, pidgin, or creole language) that results from conversationally combining Spanish and English. The term is mos ...
depending on demographics and context.
Government statistics for the region are often underreported due to underlying immigration issues.
The Spanish language plays an important role in all aspects of life. In 1982 a statistically significant majority of people in the Rio Grande Valley spoke Spanish. People speak Spanish to communicate in all aspects of life including business, government, and at home.
People often prefer Spanish to English when interacting with government officials as seen in the response to the region's 2018 flooding.
Religion
The Catholic Church has been present in the Rio Grande Valley since the Spanish colonization of the region. In
San Juan, Texas
San Juan is a city in Hidalgo County, Texas, United States. As of the 2020 census the population was 35,294, up from 33,856 in 2010. It is part of the McAllen–Edinburg–Mission and Reynosa–McAllen metropolitan areas.
The city is known fo ...
the
is a major Catholic shrine.
One of the offshoots of the Catholic Church, worship of
Santa Muerte
''Nuestra Señora de la Santa Muerte'' (; Spanish for Our Lady of Holy Death), often shortened to Santa Muerte, is a cult image, female deity, and folk saint in folk Catholicism and Mexican Neopaganism. A personification of death, she is associa ...
, has a small but significant following in the valley. There has been public outcry against followers erecting shrines at their homes and in public places.
In 2015 a Santa Muerte statue was involved with a bomb scare in
San Benito, Texas
San Benito is a city in Cameron County, Texas, United States. Its population was 24,250 at the 2010 census. On April 3, 2007, San Benito celebrated the 100th anniversary of its naming.
The post office was named "Diaz" from April to May 1907. The ...
. This followed the desecration of a Santa Muerte statue in the San Benito Municipal Cemetery in January of the same year.
In addition to the Catholic Church, several other Christian denominations are present in the Rio Grande Valley, including several organized Protestant churches in the Lower Rio Grande Valley
[Grammich, C., Hadaway, K., Houseal, R., Jones, D. E., Krindatch, A., Stanley, R., & Taylor, R. H. (2018, December 11)]
''U.S. Religion Census Religious Congregations and Membership Study, 2010 (County File)''
and 26 congregations of
the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Christianity, Christian church that considers itself to be the Restorationism, restoration of the ...
with about 17,000 members.
The church began with a small
branch
A branch, sometimes called a ramus in botany, is a woody structural member connected to the central trunk (botany), trunk of a tree (or sometimes a shrub). Large branches are known as boughs and small branches are known as twigs. The term '' ...
serving the area in the early 1900s, and by 1952 there were two
stakes. The El Paso 3rd Ward became the Church's first Spanish-speaking
ward
Ward may refer to:
Division or unit
* Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward
* Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a pris ...
when it was created in 1952. In 2019, the Church announced the construction of a new
McAllen Texas Temple.
Sikh
Sikhs ( or ; pa, ਸਿੱਖ, ' ) are people who adhere to Sikhism, Sikhism (Sikhi), a Monotheism, monotheistic religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Gu ...
,
Muslim
Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...
,
Hindu
Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...
,
Jewish
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
,
Buddhist
Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...
and
Baháʼí Faith
The Baháʼí Faith is a religion founded in the 19th century that teaches the Baháʼí Faith and the unity of religion, essential worth of all religions and Baháʼí Faith and the unity of humanity, the unity of all people. Established by ...
communities thrive in the Rio Grande Valley.
Climate
The Lower Rio Grande Valley experiences a warm and fair climate that brings visitors from many surrounding areas.
Temperature extremes range from triple digits during the summer months to freezing during the winter.
While the Valley has seen severe cold events before, such as the
2004 Christmas snow storm and
2021 cold snap, the region rarely experiences temperatures at or below freezing, especially by the coast, which transitions into a
Tropical
The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the Equator. They are defined in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the Northern Hemisphere at N and the Tropic of Capricorn in
the Southern Hemisphere at S. The tropics are also referred to ...
climate.
The regions's proximity to the Gulf of Mexico makes it a target for
hurricanes
A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depend ...
. Though not impacted as frequently as other areas of the Gulf Coast of the United States, the Valley has experienced major hurricanes in the past. Hurricanes that have made landfall in or near the area include:
Hurricane Beulah (1967),
Hurricane Allen (1980)
Hurricane Allen was a rare and extremely powerful Cape Verde hurricane that affected the Caribbean, eastern and northern Mexico, and southern Texas in August 1980. The first named storm and second tropical cyclone of the 1980 Atlantic hurricane ...
,
Hurricane Gilbert
Hurricane Gilbert was the second most intense tropical cyclone on record in the Atlantic basin in terms of barometric pressure, only behind Hurricane Wilma in 2005. An extremely powerful tropical cyclone that formed during the 1988 Atlantic hurr ...
,
Hurricane Bret
Hurricane Bret was the first of five Category 4 hurricanes that developed during the 1999 Atlantic hurricane season and the first tropical cyclone since Hurricane Jerry in 1989 to make landfall in Texas at hurricane intensity. Forming fro ...
,
Hurricane Dolly (2008)
Hurricane Dolly was a strong tropical cyclone that made landfall in Deep South Texas in July 2008. Dolly was the fourth tropical cyclone and second hurricane to form during the 2008 Atlantic hurricane season. Dolly developed on July 20 ...
,
Hurricane Alex (2010)
Hurricane Alex was a rare June Atlantic hurricane and the first tropical cyclone to develop in the 2010 Atlantic hurricane season. Originating from an area of disturbed weather on June 25, 2010, it slowly developed in the western Caribbean S ...
, and
Hurricane Hanna (2020)
Hurricane Hanna was the first of a record-tying six Atlantic hurricanes to make landfall in the United States in one year. The eighth named storm and first hurricane of the extremely active 2020 Atlantic hurricane season, Hanna developed from a ...
. Having an especially flat terrain, the Valley usually experiences the catastrophic effects of tropical cyclones in the form of flooding.
Tourism
The Lower Rio Grande Valley encompasses landmarks that attract tourists. Popular destinations include
Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge
Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge is the largest protected area of natural habitat left in the Lower Rio Grande Valley. The refuge is located almost entirely in Cameron County, Texas (near Harlingen), although a very small part of its n ...
,
Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge
Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge is a National Wildlife Refuge situated along the banks of the Rio Grande, south of Alamo in the Lower Rio Grande Valley, in Hidalgo County, South Texas.
The wildlife refuge was established for the protect ...
,
Bentsen-Rio Grande Valley State Park,
South Padre Island
South Padre Island is a barrier island in the U.S. state of Texas. The remote landform is located in Cameron County, Willacy County, and accessible by the Queen Isabella Causeway. South Padre Island was formed when the creation of the Port Man ...
,
Brazos Island
Brazos Island, also known as Brazos Santiago Island, is a barrier island on the Gulf Coast of Texas in the United States, south of the town of South Padre Island. The island is located in Cameron County.
Brazos Santiago Pass partitions the bar ...
, and the
Port Isabel Lighthouse.
The Valley is a popular
waypoint A waypoint is an intermediate point or place on a route or line of travel, a stopping point or point at which course is changed, the first use of the term tracing to 1880. In modern terms, it most often refers to coordinates which specify one's posi ...
for tourists visiting northeast Mexico. Popular destinations across the border and Rio Grande include:
Matamoros,
Nuevo Progreso,
Río Bravo
The Rio Grande ( and ), known in Mexico as the Río Bravo del Norte or simply the Río Bravo, is one of the principal rivers (along with the Colorado River) in the southwestern United States and in northern Mexico.
The length of the Rio G ...
, and
Reynosa
Reynosa () is a border city in the northern part of the state of Tamaulipas, in Mexico. It is also the municipal seat of Reynosa Municipality.
The city is located on the southern bank of the Rio Grande in the international Reynosa–McAllen Metr ...
, all located in the Mexican state of
Tamaulipas
Tamaulipas (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Tamaulipas ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Tamaulipas), is a state in the northeast region of Mexico; one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 Federal Entiti ...
.
The region also attracts tourists from the Mexican states of
Tamaulipas
Tamaulipas (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Tamaulipas ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Tamaulipas), is a state in the northeast region of Mexico; one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 Federal Entiti ...
,
Nuevo León
Nuevo León () is a state in the northeast region of Mexico. The state was named after the New Kingdom of León, an administrative territory from the Viceroyalty of New Spain, itself was named after the historic Spanish Kingdom of León. With a ...
,
Coahuila
Coahuila (), formally Coahuila de Zaragoza (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Coahuila de Zaragoza ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Coahuila de Zaragoza), is one of the 32 states of Mexico.
Coahuila borders the Mexican states of N ...
, and
Mexico, D.F. (México City).
Places of historical interest
![Chimney park sunset](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/10/Chimney_park_sunset.jpeg)
*
*
First Lift Station
*
Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge
Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge is the largest protected area of natural habitat left in the Lower Rio Grande Valley. The refuge is located almost entirely in Cameron County, Texas (near Harlingen), although a very small part of its n ...
*
Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge
Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge is a National Wildlife Refuge situated along the banks of the Rio Grande, south of Alamo in the Lower Rio Grande Valley, in Hidalgo County, South Texas.
The wildlife refuge was established for the protect ...
*Hugh Ramsey Nature Park
*
Los Ebanos Ferry
The Los Ebanos Ferry or El Chalán, formally known as the Los Ebanos-Diaz Ordaz Ferry, is a hand-operated cable ferry that travels across the Rio Grande between Los Ebanos, Texas, and Gustavo Díaz Ordaz, Tamaulipas. It is the last of its kind a ...
, last hand-operated ferry on the Rio Grande
*
La Lomita Historic District
La Lomita Chapel is a historic Catholic chapel in Mission, Texas. It was once an important site for the Cavalry of Christ, a group of priests who traveled long distances on horseback to minister to Catholics living on isolated ranches along t ...
*
Fort Brown
Fort Brown (originally Fort Texas) was a military post of the United States Army in Cameron County, Texas, during the latter half of the 19th century and the early part of the 20th century. Established in 1846, it was the first US Army military ...
*
Palo Alto Battlefield National Historic Site
*
Resaca de la Palma
The Battle of Resaca de la Palma was one of the early engagements of the Mexican–American War, where the United States Army under General Zachary Taylor engaged the retreating forces of the Mexican ''Ejército del Norte'' ("Army of the North" ...
*Rancho de Carricitos
*
USMC War Memorial
The United States Marine Corps War Memorial (Iwo Jima Memorial) is a national memorial located in Arlington County, Virginia, Arlington County, Virginia. The memorial was dedicated in 1954 to all United States Marine Corps, Marines who have giv ...
original plaster working model, located on the campus of the
Marine Military Academy
The Marine Military Academy is a private college preparatory academy located in Harlingen, Texas, US, offering a college preparatory curriculum for boys in grades 7–12 plus one year of post-graduate study. The school was founded in 1965. Its ...
in
Harlingen
*
Museum of South Texas History, originally the County Court House and Jail, built in the late 19th century
*
Battle of Palmito Ranch
The Battle of Palmito Ranch, also known as the Battle of Palmito Hill, is considered by some criteria as the final battle of the American Civil War. It was fought May 12 and 13, 1865, on the banks of the Rio Grande east of Brownsville, Texas, an ...
, location of the last battle of the Civil War
*
Brownsville Raid
*
Battle of Resaca de la Palma
The Battle of Resaca de la Palma was one of the early engagements of the Mexican–American War, where the United States Army under General Zachary Taylor engaged the retreating forces of the Mexican ''Ejército del Norte'' ("Army of the North ...
Economy
The Valley is historically reliant on
agribusiness
Agribusiness is the industry, enterprises, and the field of study of value chains in agriculture and in the bio-economy,
in which case it is also called bio-business or bio-enterprise.
The primary goal of agribusiness is to maximize profit w ...
and
tourism
Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring (disambiguation), touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tour (disambiguation), tours. Th ...
.
Cotton
Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus ''Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose, and can contain minor perce ...
,
grapefruit
The grapefruit (''Citrus'' × ''paradisi'') is a subtropical citrus tree known for its relatively large, sour to semi-sweet, somewhat bitter fruit. The interior flesh is segmented and varies in color from pale yellow to dark pink.
Grapefruit is ...
,
sorghum
''Sorghum'' () is a genus of about 25 species of flowering plants in the grass family (Poaceae). Some of these species are grown as cereals for human consumption and some in pastures for animals. One species is grown for grain, while many othe ...
,
maize
Maize ( ; ''Zea mays'' subsp. ''mays'', from es, maíz after tnq, mahiz), also known as corn (North American and Australian English), is a cereal grain first domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 10,000 years ago. Th ...
, and
sugarcane
Sugarcane or sugar cane is a species of (often hybrid) tall, Perennial plant, perennial grass (in the genus ''Saccharum'', tribe Andropogoneae) that is used for sugar Sugar industry, production. The plants are 2–6 m (6–20 ft) tall with ...
are its leading crops, and the region is the center of citrus production and the most important area of vegetable production in the State of Texas. Over the last several decades, the emergence of
maquiladoras
A (), or (), is a word that refers to factories that are largely duty free and tariff-free. These factories take raw materials and assemble, manufacture, or process them and export the finished product. These factories and systems are present t ...
(factories or fabrication plants) has caused a surge of industrial development along the border, while international bridges have allowed Mexican nationals to shop, sell, and do business in the border cities along the Rio Grande. The geographic inclusion of
South Padre Island
South Padre Island is a barrier island in the U.S. state of Texas. The remote landform is located in Cameron County, Willacy County, and accessible by the Queen Isabella Causeway. South Padre Island was formed when the creation of the Port Man ...
also drives tourism, particularly during the
Spring Break season, as its subtropical climate keeps temperatures warm year-round. During the winter months, many retirees (commonly referred to as "Winter Texans") arrive to enjoy the warm weather,
access to pharmaceuticals and healthcare in Mexican border crossings such as
Nuevo Progreso. There is a substantial health-care industry with major hospitals and many clinics and private practices in
Brownsville,
Harlingen, and
McAllen
McAllen is the largest city in Hidalgo County, Texas, United States, and the 22nd-most populous city in Texas. It is located at the southern tip of the state in the Rio Grande Valley, on the Mexico–United States border. The city limits extend ...
.
![Box of oranges](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/21/Box_of_oranges.jpg)
Texas is the third largest producer of citrus fruit in the United States, the majority of which is grown in the Rio Grande Valley.
Grapefruit
The grapefruit (''Citrus'' × ''paradisi'') is a subtropical citrus tree known for its relatively large, sour to semi-sweet, somewhat bitter fruit. The interior flesh is segmented and varies in color from pale yellow to dark pink.
Grapefruit is ...
make up over 70% of the Valley citrus crop, which also includes
orange
Orange most often refers to:
*Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis''
** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower
*Orange (colour), from the color of an orange, occurs between red and yellow in the visible spectrum
* ...
,
tangerine
The tangerine is a type of citrus fruit that is orange in color. Its scientific name varies. It has been treated as a separate species under the name ''Citrus tangerina'' or ''Citrus'' × ''tangerina'', or treated as a variety of ''Citrus retic ...
,
tangelo
The tangelo ( , ; ''C. reticulata × C. maxima'' or ''× C. paradisi''), ''Citrus × tangelo, is'' a citrus fruit hybrid of a ''Citrus reticulata'' variety, such as mandarin orange or tangerine, and a ''Citrus maxima'' variety, such as a pomel ...
and
Meyer lemon
''Citrus'' × ''meyeri'', the Meyer lemon (), is a hybrid citrus fruit native to China. It is a cross between a citron and a mandarin/pomelo hybrid.
Mature trees are around tall with dark green shiny leaves. The flowers are white with a purp ...
production each Winter.
There are two minor professional sports teams that play in the Rio Grande Valley: The
Rio Grande Valley Vipers
The Rio Grande Valley Vipers are an American professional basketball team of the NBA G League based in Edinburg, Texas, and are affiliated with the Houston Rockets. The Vipers play their home games at the Bert Ogden Arena. The Vipers have won f ...
(basketball), and
Rio Grande Valley FC Toros
Rio Grande Valley FC, also known as RGVFC or Rio Grande Valley FC Toros, is an American semi-professional soccer team based in Edinburg, Texas operated by Lone Star, LLC. They joined the USL Championship in the 2016 season.
The team served as a ...
(soccer). Defunct teams that previously played in the region include: the
Edinburg Roadrunners
The Edinburg Roadrunners were a professional baseball team based in Edinburg, Texas, in the United States. The Roadrunners were a member of the United League Baseball, an independent professional league which is not affiliated with Major League B ...
(baseball),
La Fiera FC (indoor soccer),
Rio Grande Valley Ocelots FC (soccer),
Rio Grande Valley WhiteWings (baseball),
Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees (ice hockey), and the
Rio Grande Valley Sol
The Rio Valley Grande Sol were a professional indoor football team based in Hidalgo, Texas. They were members of the X-League Indoor Football (XLIF) in their final season. The Sol played their home games at the State Farm Arena. They were found ...
(indoor football).
One of the Valley's major tourist attractions is the semi-tropical wildlife. Birds and butterflies attract a large number of visitors every year all throughout the entire region. Ecotourism is a major economic force in the Rio Grande Valley.
Transportation
Valley International Airport
Valley International Airport (VIA) is owned by the City of Harlingen, in Cameron County, Texas, United States. It is operated by a nine-member airport board appointed by the mayor. HRL is centrally located in the Rio Grande Valley and is refer ...
serves the Rio Grande Valley community, with service on seven passenger and two cargo airlines, including one international passenger airline, Mexico's
VivaAerobus
Aeroenlaces Nacionales, S.A. de C.V., trading as Viva Aerobus, is a Mexican low-cost airline fully owned by the largest bus company group in Mexico, IAMSA, and was co-founded by and invested in by Irelandia Aviation. Based in Monterrey Internati ...
.
There are several bus lines that run through the United States side of the Lower Rio Grande Valley including Metro Connect (
McAllen
McAllen is the largest city in Hidalgo County, Texas, United States, and the 22nd-most populous city in Texas. It is located at the southern tip of the state in the Rio Grande Valley, on the Mexico–United States border. The city limits extend ...
), McAllen Paratransit, McAllen Metro Services, Brownsville Metro/ADA Paratransit Service Island Metro (
South Padre Island
South Padre Island is a barrier island in the U.S. state of Texas. The remote landform is located in Cameron County, Willacy County, and accessible by the Queen Isabella Causeway. South Padre Island was formed when the creation of the Port Man ...
), and
Greyhound Lines
Greyhound Lines, Inc. (commonly known as simply Greyhound) operates the largest intercity bus service in North America, including Greyhound Mexico. It also operates charter bus services, Amtrak Thruway services, commuter bus services, and pac ...
.
[2019 Greyhound Bus Lines United States Map](_blank)
/ref> On the Mexican side of the border there are several bus companies that run including Greyhound, Tornado, Ave Senda Ejecutiva, Enlaces Terrestres Nacionales, Futua, Noreste, Omnibus de Oriente, Transpais, Transportes del Norte, Transportes Frontera, and Turistar Lujo.
The Interstate Highway System
The Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, commonly known as the Interstate Highway System, is a network of controlled-access highways that forms part of the National Highway System in the United States. Th ...
in the United States is well developed in the Lower Rio Grande Valley and connects Brownsville, Hidalgo, McAllen, Raymondville, Edinburg, Pharr, and Laredo. On the Mexican side, there are several major highways between Matamoros, Reynosa
Reynosa () is a border city in the northern part of the state of Tamaulipas, in Mexico. It is also the municipal seat of Reynosa Municipality.
The city is located on the southern bank of the Rio Grande in the international Reynosa–McAllen Metr ...
, and Nuevo Laredo
Nuevo Laredo () is a city in the Municipality of Nuevo Laredo in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas. The city lies on the banks of the Rio Grande, across from Laredo, United States. The 2010 census population of the city was 373,725. Nuevo Lar ...
. car travel on the Mexican side was considered dangerous and the Mexican Federal Police
A law enforcement agency (LEA) is any government agency responsible for the enforcement of the laws.
Jurisdiction
LEAs which have their ability to apply their powers restricted in some way are said to operate within a jurisdiction.
LEAs ...
offered a police escort between Ciudad Victoria
Ciudad Victoria () is the seat of the Municipality of Victoria, and the capital of the Mexican state of Tamaulipas. It is located in the northeast of Mexico at the foot of the Sierra Madre Oriental. It borders the municipality of Güémez to ...
, Matamoros, and Reynosa.
Freight trains
Rail freight transport is the use of railroads and trains to transport cargo as opposed to human passengers.
A freight train, cargo train, or goods train is a group of freight cars (US) or goods wagons (International Union of Railways) hauled ...
run between Harlingen, Mission
Mission (from Latin ''missio'' "the act of sending out") may refer to:
Organised activities Religion
*Christian mission, an organized effort to spread Christianity
*Mission (LDS Church), an administrative area of The Church of Jesus Christ of ...
, Edinburg, and Santa Rosa
Santa Rosa is the Italian, Portuguese and Spanish name for Saint Rose.
Santa Rosa may also refer to:
Places Argentina
*Santa Rosa, Mendoza, a city
* Santa Rosa, Tinogasta, Catamarca
* Santa Rosa, Valle Viejo, Catamarca
* Santa Rosa, La Pampa
* S ...
connecting to the Union Pacific Railroad
The Union Pacific Railroad , legally Union Pacific Railroad Company and often called simply Union Pacific, is a freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Paci ...
. In Mexico, Kansas City Southern de México
Kansas City Southern de México (KCSM), formerly Transportación Ferroviaria Mexicana (TFM), is a company dedicated to freight transportation using rail in the northeastern part of Mexico. KCSM is fully owned and operated by Kansas City Southern ...
runs freight service and crosses from Matamoros into Brownsville over the Brownsville & Matamoros International Bridge
The Brownsville & Matamoros International Bridge, also known as B&M International Bridge, Brownsville-Matamoros International Bridge and Express Bridge, is one of three international bridges that cross the U.S.-Mexico border between the cities ...
.
Sea trade runs through the deepwater seaport, the Port of Brownsville
The Port of Brownsville is a deep water seaport in Brownsville, at the southern tip of Texas.
Geography
The port is the southern terminus of the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway. The port is located near the river mouth of the Rio Grande and Lower R ...
and the Foreign Trade Zone 62.
SpaceX South Texas launch site
Starbase is a spaceport, production, and development facility for Starship rockets, located at Boca Chica, Texas, United States. It is in construction in the late 2010s and 2020s by SpaceX, an American aerospace manufacturer.
When conceptuali ...
is located near Brownsville. Elon Musk
Elon Reeve Musk ( ; born June 28, 1971) is a business magnate and investor. He is the founder, CEO and chief engineer of SpaceX; angel investor, CEO and product architect of Tesla, Inc.; owner and CEO of Twitter, Inc.; founder of The Bori ...
is also building an ocean spaceport named Deimos intended for transport to and from Mars
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System, only being larger than Mercury (planet), Mercury. In the English language, Mars is named for the Mars (mythology), Roman god of war. Mars is a terr ...
.
Politics
The region is represented by Ted Cruz
Rafael Edward "Ted" Cruz (; born December 22, 1970) is an American politician and attorney serving as the junior United States Senator from Texas since 2013. A member of the Republican Party, Cruz served as Solicitor General of Texas from ...
and John Cornyn
John Cornyn III ( ; born February 2, 1952) is an American politician and attorney serving as the senior United States senator from Texas, a seat he has held since 2002. A member of the Republican Party, he served as the Senate majority whip for ...
in the United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States.
The composition and pow ...
and by Filemon Vela Jr.
Filemón Bartolomé Vela Jr. ( ; born February 13, 1963) is an American lobbyist, lawyer and politician who served as the U.S. representative for from 2013 until his resignation in 2022. He is a member of the Democratic Party. Vela was also vic ...
and Vicente Gonzalez in the United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the Lower house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...
.
In the twenty-first century, the dominance of agribusiness
Agribusiness is the industry, enterprises, and the field of study of value chains in agriculture and in the bio-economy,
in which case it is also called bio-business or bio-enterprise.
The primary goal of agribusiness is to maximize profit w ...
has caused political issues, as jurisdictional disputes regarding water rights
Water right in water law refers to the right of a user to use water from a water source, e.g., a river, stream, pond or source of groundwater. In areas with plentiful water and few users, such systems are generally not complicated or contentiou ...
have caused tension between farmers on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border. Scholars, including Mexican political scientist Armand Peschard-Sverdrup
Armand Peschard-Sverdrup is a Mexican political scientist and foreign policy specialist. He founded the policy firm Peschard Sverdrup International in 2004. Prior to his work at PS International, Peschard-Sverdrup was widely recognized as one of ...
, have argued that this tension has created the need for a re-developed strategic transnational water management
Water resources are natural resources of water that are potentially useful for humans, for example as a source of drinking water supply or irrigation water. 97% of the water on the Earth is salt water and only three percent is fresh water; slightl ...
. Some have declared the disputes tantamount to a "war" over diminishing natural resources
Natural resources are resources that are drawn from nature and used with few modifications. This includes the sources of valued characteristics such as commercial and industrial use, aesthetic value, scientific interest and cultural value. O ...
. Climatologists believe water scarcity
Water scarcity (closely related to water stress or water crisis) is the lack of fresh water Water resources, resources to meet the standard water demand. There are two types of water scarcity: physical or economic water scarcity. Physical water ...
in the Valley will only increase as climate change
In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to E ...
alters the precipitation patterns of the region.
Democratic candidate Beto O'Rourke
Robert Francis "Beto" O'Rourke ( , ; ; born September 26, 1972) is an American politician who served as the U.S. representative for from 2013 to 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, O'Rourke was the party's nominee for the U.S. Senat ...
received 164,232 votes from the region, compared to incumbent Ted Cruz
Rafael Edward "Ted" Cruz (; born December 22, 1970) is an American politician and attorney serving as the junior United States Senator from Texas since 2013. A member of the Republican Party, Cruz served as Solicitor General of Texas from ...
's 79,049, in his failed bid to replace Cruz in the Senate in 2018.
Unlike most of Texas the Rio Grande Valley is strongly Democratic having last voting for a Republican presidential candidate in 1972 and only 3 times since 1912 along with 1952 and 1956.
In 2016, Donald Trump
Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021.
Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...
's won only 29 percent of the region's vote, an 80-year low for Republicans. However, in 2020, he significantly strengthened the Republican vote in the Rio Grande Valley, reducing, among other things, Hillary Clinton's 2016 60-point margin of victory in 96% Hispanic Starr County to only 5 points.
Education
Historically education has posed significant challenges to schools in the region. Schools in the early 1920s through the 1940s were racially segregated in the Rio Grande Valley. In 1940 a study showed the need for improvement in cultural differentiation of instruction. The Texas Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of Texas (SCOTX) is the court of last resort for civil matters (including juvenile delinquency cases, which are categorized as civil under the Texas Family Code) in the U.S. state of Texas. A different court, the Texas Court of ...
in Del Rio ISD v. Salvatierra reinforced the racial segregation. In 1968, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Bilingual Education Act, helping students whose second language was English. The Act gave financial assistance to local schools to create bilingual programs, enabling Mexican students to integrate white schools. The area like many others had a hard time integrating. Texas still has the bilingual program, while states like California, Arizona, and Massachusetts, have removed the bill and passed similar propositions stating that students would only be taught in English. The bilingual program in the Rio Grande Valley is still in effect especially with Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals students in the area.
Colleges and universities located in the Rio Grande Valley include:
* Texas A&M Health Science Center, School of Public Health - McAllen
* Texas A&M University - McAllen Campus
*University of Texas Rio Grande Valley
The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) is a public research university with multiple campuses throughout the Rio Grande Valley region of Texas and is the southernmost member of the University of Texas System. The University of Texas ...
— Entered into full operation in 2015 with the merger of the University of Texas at Brownsville
, mottoeng = Cultivated mind is the guardian genius of democracy.
, established =
, closed = (merged with UT–Pan American to form The UTRGV)
, type = Public State University
, presid ...
and the University of Texas–Pan American
, mottoeng = Education, the Guardian of Society
, established =
, closed =
, type = Public university
, endowment = $65 million
, president = Dr. Havidan Rodriguez ...
.
* University of Texas Rio Grande Valley School of Medicine
*Texas Southmost College
Texas Southmost College (TSC) is a public junior college located in Brownsville, Texas.
History Early history
Texas Southmost College was established in 1926 under the name of The Junior College of the Lower Rio Grande Valley, as a subsidiary ...
*Texas State Technical College
Texas State Technical College (TSTC) is a public community college with 10 campuses throughout Texas. TSTC is the State of Texas's only public multicampus technical college, offering associate degrees and certificates in technical skills and trade ...
*South Texas College
South Texas College (STC) is a public community college in the Rio Grande Valley region of South Texas. It is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to award Bachelor of Applied Technology, ...
*University of Texas Health Science Center - Regional Academic Health CenterRAHC Vision Statement
/ref>
Sports
Defunct
Hospitals
* Cornerstone Regional Hospital
Cornerstone Regional Hospital is a for-profit hospital in Edinburg, Texas, partially owned and operated by Universal Health Services. Cornerstone Regional Hospital is licensed by the state of Texas and accredited by The Joint Commission. The hos ...
, Edinburg, Texas
* Edinburg Children's Hospital, Edinburg, Texas
* Edinburg Regional Medical Center, Edinburg, Texas
* Doctors Hospital at Renaissance, Edinburg, Texas
* Harlingen Medical Center, Harlingen, Texas
* McAllen Heart Hospital, McAllen, Texas
* McAllen Medical Center, McAllen, Texas
* Rio Grande Regional Hospital, McAllen, Texas
* Rio Grande State Hospital, Harlingen, Texas
* Solara Hospital, Harlingen, Texas
* VA Health Care Center at Harlingen. Harlingen, Texas
* Valley Baptist Medical Center, Harlingen, Texas
* Valley Baptist Medical Center, Brownsville, Texas
* Valley Regional Medical Center, Brownsville, Texas
* Knapp Medical Center, Weslaco, Texas
* Mission Regional Medical Center, Mission, Texas
Media
Magazines
* ''The Go Guide'' (published by Above Group Advertising Agency)
*''Rio Grande Magazine''
* ''Viva el Valle''
* ''RGV Drives Magazine'' (published by MAT Media Solutions)
*''RGVision Magazine'' (published by RGVision Media)
Newspapers
* '' Valley Town Crier'' - owned by Gatehouse Media
* '' The Edinburg Review'' - owned by Gatehouse Media
* '' Valley Bargain Book'' - owned by Gatehouse Media
* ''El Periódico USA''
* ''El Nuevo Heraldo
''El Nuevo Heraldo'' is a Spanish-language newspaper in Brownsville, Texas, United States. It is a sister newspaper to ''The Brownsville Herald''. In 2009 the 2009 Texas Associated Press Managing Editors' annual meeting awarded the ''El Nuevo Her ...
'' - owned by AIM Media Texas
* ''Mega Doctor News''
* ''Texas Border Business''
* ''The Brownsville Herald
''The Brownsville Herald'' is a newspaper based in Brownsville, Texas, circulating in the Cameron County area.
Jesse O. Wheeler, a newspaperman from Victoria, purchased Brownsville's ''Cosmopolitan'' newspaper in 1892 and renamed it the ''Browns ...
'' - owned by AIM Media Texas
* ''The Island Breeze
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...
'' - owned by AIM Media Texas
* '' The Monitor'' - owned by AIM Media Texas
AIM Media Texas is a United States publisher of daily and non-daily newspapers, primarily in the Rio Grande Valley region of Texas.
In 2012, Freedom Communications began selling most of its newspaper portfolio. Former Dallas Morning News preside ...
* ''Valley Morning Star
The ''Valley Morning Star'', established in 1909 as the ''Harlingen Star'', is an American newspaper published in Harlingen in the U.S. state of Texas. In 1938, ''The New York Times'' reported on a printer's strike at the newspaper that was organ ...
'' - owned by AIM Media Texas
* '' Valleywood Magazine'' - owned by Valleywood Publications
* '' The Donna News'' - owned by Valleywood Publications
* '' Weslaco World'' - owned by Valleywood Publications
* '' La Feria Journal'' - owned by Valleywood Publications
* '' South Padre Island Post'' - owned by Valleywood Publications
Television
* KGBT-TV
KGBT-TV (channel 4) is a television station licensed to Harlingen, Texas, United States, serving the Lower Rio Grande Valley as a primary Antenna TV owned-and-operated station and a secondary MyNetworkTV affiliate. It is owned by Nexstar Media ...
/DT channel 4, Antenna TV
Antenna TV is an American digital television network owned by Nexstar Media Group. The network's programming consists of classic television series, primarily sitcoms, from the 1950s to the 1990s. Antenna TV's programming and advertising operati ...
Affiliate
* KRGV-TV/DT Channel 5 News, ABC
ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet.
ABC or abc may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting
* American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster
** Disney–ABC Television ...
Affiliate
* KVEO
KVEO-TV (channel 23) is a television station licensed to Brownsville, Texas, United States, serving the Lower Rio Grande Valley as a dual affiliate of NBC and CBS. It is owned by Nexstar Media Group alongside Harlingen-licensed primary Antenna ...
-TV/DT Local 23/CBS 4 (DT-2), NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...
/CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...
Affiliate
* KCWT-CD
KCWT-CD (channel 21) is a low-power, Class A television station licensed to McAllen, Texas, United States, serving the Lower Rio Grande Valley as an affiliate of The CW Plus. The station also carries non-commercial PBS programming on its fourth ...
21, The CW
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...
Affiliate
* KTFV-CD
KTFV-CD, Virtual channel, virtual and Ultra high frequency, UHF Digital terrestrial television, digital channel 32, is a Low-power broadcasting#Television, low-power, Class A television service, Class A licensed to McAllen, Texas, United States, ...
32, UniMás
UniMás (, stylized as ''UNIMÁS'', and originally known as TeleFutura from its launch on January 14, 2002, to January 6, 2013) is an American Spanish free-to-air television network owned by TelevisaUnivision. The network's programming, which is ...
Affiliate
* KFXV TV/DT 60, FOX
Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush'').
Twelve sp ...
Affiliate
* KLUJ-TV
KLUJ-TV (channel 44) is a religious television station licensed to Harlingen, Texas, United States, serving the Lower Rio Grande Valley with programming from the Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN). It is owned and operated by TBN's Community Educ ...
/DT 44, TBN Affiliate
* KTLM-TV/DT 40, Telemundo
Telemundo (; formerly NetSpan) is an American Spanish-language Terrestrial television, terrestrial television network owned by NBCUniversal Television and Streaming#NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises, NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises, a divi ...
Affiliate
* KNVO TV/DT 48, Univision
Univision () is an American Spanish-language free-to-air television network owned by TelevisaUnivision. It is the United States' largest provider of Spanish-language content. The network's programming is aimed at the Latino public and includes ...
Affiliate
* KMBH-LD
KMBH-LD, virtual channel 67 ( UHF digital channel 20), is a low-power television station licensed to McAllen, Texas, United States. It is a translator of Harlingen-licensed Fox affiliate KFXV (channel 38) which is owned by Santa Monica, Cal ...
67, Fox 2 News, Fox
Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush'').
Twelve sp ...
Affiliate
* XERV-TDT
XERV-TDT, virtual channel 9 (UHF digital channel 19), is a television station located in Reynosa, Tamaulipas, whose over-the-air signal also covers the Rio Grande Valley across the international border in the United States. The station is owned b ...
9.1 Las Estrellas
Las Estrellas ("The Stars"; previously El Canal de las Estrellas, or "The Channel of the Stars") is one of the cornerstone networks of TelevisaUnivision, with affiliate stations all over Mexico, flagshipped at XEW-TDT in Mexico City. Many of the ...
, Televisa
Grupo Televisa is a Mexican multimedia mass media company. A major Latin American mass media corporation, it often presents itself as the largest producer of Spanish-language content.
In April 2021, Televisa and Univision Communications announce ...
* XHAB-TDT
XHAB-TDT, virtual channel 8 ( UHF digital channel 30), is a Televisa television station licensed to Matamoros, Tamaulipas, Mexico. The channel can also be seen in Texas' Rio Grande Valley market. In addition to local news and programming, XHAB ...
8.1 Vallevision, Televisa
* XHOR-TDT 14.1 Azteca 7, TV Azteca
* XHREY-TDT1.1 Azteca Uno, TV Azteca
Radio
* KBFM
KBFM (104.1 FM) is a commercial radio station licensed to Edinburg, Texas, carrying a bilingual English/Spanish language rhythmic contemporary format known as "Wild 104". Owned by iHeartMedia, the station serves the Lower Rio Grande Valley. KBFM ...
Wild 104 (Hip Hop/Top 40 - IHeart Media)
* XEEW-FM Los 40 Principales 97.7 (Top 40 Spanish/English)
* KBTQ
KBTQ (96.1 FM) is a radio station broadcasting a Latin ballad format. Licensed to Harlingen, Texas, United States, the station serves the McAllen area. The station is currently owned by Latino Media Network.
History
KMBS "Stereo 96" signed o ...
96.1 Exitos (Spanish Oldies) Univision
* KCAS 91.5 FM (Christian, Teaching/Preaching/Music)
* KESO
KESO (92.7 FM) is a radio station broadcasting a classic hits music format. Licensed to South Padre Island, Texas, United States, the station serves the McAllen-Brownsville-Harlingen area. The station is currently owned by MBM Texas Valley LLC. ...
92.7 KESO (Classic Hits)
* KFRQ
KFRQ (94.5 FM) is a radio station broadcasting a classic rock format. Licensed to Harlingen, Texas, United States, the station serves the Rio Grande Valley area. The station is currently owned by Entravision. It shares a studio with its sister ...
Q94.5 The Rock (Classic Rock) (All Rock All The Time)
* KGBT 1530 La Tremenda (Univision)
* KGBT-FM
KGBT-FM (98.5 MHz) is an American radio station in McAllen, Texas owned by Latino Media Network, which offers a Regional Mexican music format. The station has had a Regional Mexican format since 1997. It is a sister to KGBT and a former sister ...
98.5 FM (Regional Mexican) Univision
* KHKZ
KHKZ (106.3 FM) is a radio station broadcasting a hot adult contemporary format. Licensed to San Benito, Texas, United States, the station serves the Rio Grande Valley. The station is currently owned by iHeartMedia. It shares a studio with its s ...
Kiss FM 105.5 & 106.3 (Hot Adult Contemporary)
* KIRT 1580 AM Radio Imagen (Variety, Spanish contemporary)
* KIWW (Spanish)
* KJAV
KJAV (104.9 FM, "Ultra 104.9") is a radio station licensed to serve Alamo, Texas, United States. The station is owned by Bi-Media, LLC, through licensee Bi-Media Licensee, LLC. The principals of Bi-Media are the Bichara family, which also owns t ...
Ultra 104.9 Sonamos Differente (Spanish AC & English HAC) (AC)
* KKPS
KKPS (99.5 FM) "Fuego 99.5" is a radio station broadcasting a Bilingual Rhythmic CHR format. Licensed to Brownsville, Texas, United States, the station serves the McAllen-Brownsville-Harlingen area. The station is currently owned by Entravision ...
Fuego 99.5 (Spanish Hot AC (International hits)
* KJJF
KJJF (88.9 FM) is a non-commercial radio station in Harlingen, Texas. KHID (88.1 FM) is also a non-commercial FM radio station in McAllen, Texas. Both stations are owned and operated affiliates of Relevant Radio's Catholic radio network and se ...
/ KHID 88.9/88.1 Religious (Relevant Radio)
* KNVO-FM
KNVO-FM (101.1 FM, "La Suavecita 101.1") is a radio station licensed to serve Port Isabel, Texas, United States. The station is owned by Entravision Communications. KNVO-FM broadcasts a Spanish adult hits music format to the Rio Grande Valley a ...
La Suavecita 101.1 (Spanish Hits)
* KQXX Kiss FM 105.5 & 106.3 (Hot Adult Contemporary, simulcast of KHKZ - IHeart Media)
* KTEX
KTEX (100.3 FM) is a radio station broadcasting a country music format. Licensed to Mercedes, Texas, United States, the station serves the McAllen, Weslaco, Harlingen, Brownsville, Texas, area. The station is owned by iHeartMedia. It shares a ...
100.3 (Mainstream Country - IHeart Media)
* KURV
KURV (710 kHz) is a commercial AM radio station licensed to Edinburg, Texas, and serving the Rio Grande Valley border area. It broadcasts a talk radio format and is owned by Grupo Multimedios, through licensee Leading Media Group Corp. The stu ...
710 AM Heritage Talk Radio (part of the BMP family of stations)
* KVLY KVLY may refer to:
* KVLY-TV, a television station (digital channel 36, virtual 11) licensed to Fargo, North Dakota, United States
:See also: KVLY-TV mast, transmitter for the station and second highest man made structure in the world
* KVLY (FM)
...
107.9 RGV FM (AC) (More Hits, More Variety)
* KVMV
KVMV (96.9 FM) is a radio station broadcasting a Christian adult contemporary format. Licensed to McAllen, Texas
McAllen is the largest city in Hidalgo County, Texas, United States, and the 22nd-most populous city in Texas. It is located at ...
96.9 FM (Christian, Contemporary Music) World Radio Network
* KVNS
KVNS (1700 AM) is a radio station broadcasting a sports format. Licensed to Brownsville, Texas, United States, the station is currently owned by iHeartMedia and features programming from Fox News Radio, Premiere Radio Networks and Westwood One. ...
1700AM (Fox Sports Radio - IHeart Media)
* XHRYA-FM 90.9 Mas Music (Spanish/English Mix)
* KBUC Super Tejano 102.1 (Tejano)
Notable people
A list of notable people who were born, lived, or died in the Rio Grande Valley includes:
* Abraham Ancer
Abraham Ancer (; born 27 February 1991) is a Mexican-American professional golfer who played on the PGA Tour and is currently playing on the LIV Golf tour. He won the 2018 Emirates Australian Open and the 2021 WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational ...
(professional golfer, Olympian)
* Ramón Ayala
Ramón Covarrubias Garza (born December 8, 1945), known by his stage name Ramón Ayala, is a Mexican singer, composer and songwriter of Norteño music.
Discography
Studio albums (Ramón Ayala Y Sus Bravos Del Norte)
* ''La Pura Maña'' (1971 ...
(singer)
* David V. Aguilar (Chief Border Patrol Agent, United States Border Patrol)
* Cristela Alonzo
Cristela Alonzo (born ) is an American comedian, actress, writer and producer, who created and starred in the ABC sitcom ''Cristela.'' This made her the first Latina woman to create, produce, write, and star in her own US primetime comedy.
Ear ...
(comedian, actress, writer, producer)
* Micaela Alvarez (federal judge)
* Natalia Anciso (contemporary artist)
* Gloria E. Anzaldúa
Gloria Evangelina Anzaldúa (September 26, 1942 – May 15, 2004) was an American scholar of Chicana feminism, cultural theory, and queer theory. She loosely based her best-known book, '' Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza'', on her li ...
(writer, poet, philosopher)
* Cathy Baker (television performer)
* Lloyd Bentsen
Lloyd Millard Bentsen Jr. (February 11, 1921 – May 23, 2006) was an American politician who was a four-term United States Senator (1971–1993) from Texas and the Democratic Party nominee for vice president in 1988 on the Michael Dukakis ti ...
(U.S. Secretary of the Treasury; U.S. Senator; 1988 Vice-Presidential candidate)
* James Carlos Blake (novelist)
* Harlon Block
Harlon Henry Block (November 6, 1924 – March 1, 1945) was a United States Marine Corps corporal who was killed in action during the Battle of Iwo Jima in World War II.
Born in Yorktown, Texas, Block joined the Marine Corps with seven high schoo ...
(Iwo Jima flag raiser)
* William S. Burroughs
William Seward Burroughs II (; February 5, 1914 – August 2, 1997) was an American writer and visual artist, widely considered a primary figure of the Beat Generation and a major postmodern author who influenced popular cultur ...
(writer; his time as a farmer in the Valley in Pharr, Texas
Pharr is a city in Hidalgo County, Texas, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 70,400, and in 2019, the estimated population was 79,112. Pharr is connected by bridge to the Mexican city of Reynosa, Tamaulipas. Pharr is p ...
, is briefly chronicled in his books ''Junky'' and ''Queer'')
* Pedro Cano (Medal of Honor recipient)
* Rolando Cantú (football player)
* Raúl Castillo (actor)
* Thomas Haden Church
Thomas Haden Church (born Thomas Richard McMillen; June 17, 1960) is an American actor. After starring in the 1990s sitcom ''Wings'' and playing the lead for two seasons in ''Ned & Stacey'' (1995–1997)'','' Church became known for his film work, ...
(actor)
* Freddy Fender
Freddy Fender (born Baldemar Garza Huerta; June 4, 1937 – October 14, 2006) was an American Tejano, country and rock and roll musician, known for his work as a solo artist and in the groups Los Super Seven and the Texas Tornados. He was bes ...
(actor, musician, lyricist)
* Mike Fossum
Michael Edward Fossum (born December 19, 1957, in Sioux Falls, South Dakota) is a former American astronaut, engineer, and thChief Operating Officer of Texas A&M University at Galveston He flew into space on board the NASA Space Shuttle missions S ...
(astronaut)
* Reynaldo Guerra Garza
Reynaldo Guerra Garza (July 7, 1915 – September 14, 2004) was a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. He was the first Mexican-American appointed to a federal court when he was appointed as a U ...
(United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (in case citations, 5th Cir.) is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following federal judicial districts:
* Eastern District of Louisiana
* M ...
judge)
* Kika de la Garza
Eligio "Kika" de la Garza II (September 22, 1927March 13, 2017) was an American politician who served as the Democratic representative for the 15th congressional district of Texas from January 3, 1965, to January 3, 1997.
Biography
De la Garza ...
(U.S. Representative)
* Roberto Garza
Roberto Garza (born March 26, 1979) is a former American football center. He was drafted by the Atlanta Falcons in the fourth round (99th overall) of the 2001 NFL Draft, and in 2005, joined the Chicago Bears, spending ten seasons with the team ...
(football player)
* Xavier Garza (author and illustrator)
* Tony Garza
Antonio Oscar "Tony" Garza Jr. (born July 7, 1959) is an American lawyer and diplomat who was the United States Ambassador to Mexico from 2002 to 2009 under President George W. Bush. In recognition of his work, Mexico bestowed on him the Águil ...
(U.S. Ambassador to Mexico)
* Alfredo C. Gonzalez (Medal of Honor Recipient, U.S. Marine Veteran)
* Matt Gonzalez
Matthew Edward Gonzalez (born June 4, 1965) is an American politician, lawyer, and activist. He served on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors from 2001 and 2005 and was president of the Board. In 2003, Gonzalez, running as a member of the Gr ...
(2008 Vice-Presidential candidate; former president of the Board of Supervisors of San Francisco, California)
* Esteban Jordan
Esteban "Steve" Jordan (February 23, 1939 – August 13, 2010) was a jazz, rock, blues, conjunto and Tejano musician from the United States. He was also known as "El Parche", "The Jimi Hendrix of the accordion", and "the accordion wizard". A ...
(accordionist)
* Bill Haley
William John Clifton Haley (; July 6, 1925 – February 9, 1981) was an American rock and roll musician. He is credited by many with first popularizing this form of music in the early 1950s with his group Bill Haley & His Comets and million-sel ...
(musician)
* Catherine Hardwicke
Helen Catherine HardwickeAccording to the State of Texas. ''Texas Birth Index, 1903–1997''. Center for Health Statistics, California Department of Health Services, Sacramento, California. (born October 21, 1955) is an American film director, p ...
(writer; film director-producer)
* Rolando Hinojosa (author)
* Rubén Hinojosa
Rubén Eloy Hinojosa (born August 20, 1940) is an American politician who served as the U.S. representative for , from 1997 to 2017. He is a member of the Democratic Party. The district stretched from Seguin (east of San Antonio), to McAllen ...
(U.S. Representative)
* Kris Kristofferson
Kristoffer Kristofferson (born June 22, 1936) is a retired American singer, songwriter and actor. Among his songwriting credits are "Me and Bobby McGee", " For the Good Times", "Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down", and "Help Me Make It Through the Nig ...
(musician, actor, songwriter)
* Tom Landry
Thomas Wade Landry (September 11, 1924 – February 12, 2000) was an American professional football player and coach. He was the first head coach of the Dallas Cowboys in the National Football League (NFL), a position he held for 29 seasons. Dur ...
(American football coach, Mission, Texas)
* Bobby Lackey
Bobby Lackey (October 14, 1937 – September 2, 2021) was an American American football, football player who was the starting quarterback for the Texas Longhorns football, Texas Longhorns in the late 1950s. An all around athlete, he also played pu ...
(College Football Player; Weslaco, Texas)
* José M. López (Medal of Honor Recipient)
* Domingo Martinez (author)
* Eduardo Martinez
Eduardo is the Spanish and Portuguese form of the male given name Edward. Another version is Duarte. It may refer to:
Association football
* Eduardo Bonvallet, Chilean football player and sports commentator
* Eduardo Carvalho, Portuguese footba ...
(Historian, Journalist)
* Roy Mitchell-Cárdenas
Roy Mitchell-Cárdenas (born July 25, 1977 in Houston, Texas) is an American musician, writer, and multi-instrumentalist. He was the bassist (and sometimes guitarist) for the rock band Mutemath, as well as the bassist for Earthsuit. Mitchell-Cárd ...
(musician)
* Jack Morava (mathematician)
* Rachel McLish
Rachel Livia Elizondo McLish (born 21 June 1955) is an American female bodybuilding champion, actress, and author.
Early life and education
McLish was born as Raquel Livia Elizondo in 1955 in Harlingen, Texas, the second-youngest daughter born. ...
(Ms. Olympia; actress)
* Bobby Morrow
Bobby Joe Morrow (October 15, 1935May 30, 2020) was an American sprinter who won three gold medals at the 1956 Olympics. He has been called "the dominant sprinter of the 1950s" and "the most relaxed sprinter of all time, even more so than his ...
(Olympic gold medalist)
* Billy Gene Pemelton
William Eugene "Billy Gene" Pemelton (born September 5, 1941, in Mercedes, Texas) is a retired American track and field
Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is ...
(1964 Olympian)
* Major Samuel Ringgold (father of modern artillery)
* Charles M. Robinson III
Charles M. Robinson III (May 25, 1949 – September 18, 2012) was an American author, illustrator, and adventurer. He was a history instructor with South Texas College in McAllen, Texas, until early 2012 and was a member of the 2010 Oxford Ro ...
(author)
* Valente Rodriguez
Valente Rodriguez (born February 14, 1964) is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Ernie Cardenas on the sitcom ''George Lopez''. He also starred as Cesar in the TV Land sitcom ''Happily Divorced'', as well as guest starring on ' ...
(actor)
* Ricardo Sanchez
Ricardo Sanchez (born September 9, 1953) is a former lieutenant general in the United States Army. His career was most notable for his service as commander of Multi-National Force – Iraq and V Corps.
Early life and education
Sánchez was bor ...
(U.S. Army lieutenant general; Ground forces commander in Iraq)
* Julian Schnabel
Julian Schnabel (born October 26, 1951) is an American painter and filmmaker. In the 1980s, he received international attention for his "plate paintings" — with broken ceramic plates set onto large-scale paintings. Since the 1990s, he has been ...
(filmmaker)
* Adela Sloss Vento
Adela Sloss-Vento (c. 27 September 1901 - 4 April 1998) was born Karnes City, Texas to Anselma Garza and David Henry Sloss. As a young American woman of Mexican descent, she was determined to become a writer, hailing from southern Texas, educated ...
* Merced Solis aka Tito Santana
Merced Solis (born May 10, 1953), better known by the ring name Tito Santana, is a retired American professional wrestler and middle school teacher.
Santana has stayed a babyface his entire career and he is best known for his appearances with ...
(wrestler)
* Nick Stahl
Nicolas Kent Stahl (born December 5, 1979) is an American actor. Starting out as a child actor, he gained recognition for his performance in the 1993 film '' The Man Without a Face'', co-starring Mel Gibson.
He later transitioned into his adul ...
(actor)
* Emeraude Toubia (actress)
* Filemon Bartolome Vela (federal judge)
* Eric Miles Williamson (novelist, literary critic, professor)
* Raquel Gonzalez (wrestler)
See also
*
References
External links
Texas State Historical Association — Lower Rio Grande Valley
Rio Grande Valley Partnership: Valley Chamber
Rio Grande Valley Sports Information Center
Rgvattractions.com: Attractions in the Rio Grande Valley
Rio Grande Valley Community Foundation
RGVPride.com
Los Ebanos, TX
Wintertexaninfo.com: The Winter Texan Connection
* KERA documentary about agricultural workers
“A Thirst in the Garden,”
The Walter J. Brown Media Archives & Peabody Awards Collection at the University of Georgia
, mottoeng = "To teach, to serve, and to inquire into the nature of things.""To serve" was later added to the motto without changing the seal; the Latin motto directly translates as "To teach and to inquire into the nature of things."
, establ ...
, American Archive of Public Broadcasting
The American Archive of Public Broadcasting (AAPB) is a collaboration between the Library of Congress and WGBH Educational Foundation, founded through the efforts of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. The AAPB is a national effort to digitall ...
{{Authority control
Rio Grande
Valleys of Texas
Valleys of Mexico
Regions of Texas
Wetlands of Texas
Landforms of Cameron County, Texas
Landforms of Hidalgo County, Texas
Landforms of Starr County, Texas
Landforms of Willacy County, Texas
Landforms of Tamaulipas
Rio Grande basin