Although the site was explored as early as the seventeenth century,
the first settlers did not arrive until the latter part of the eighteenth century.
In 1765 the community of San Juan de los Esteros (present-day Matamoros) was
established across the Rio Grande. In 1781 Spanish authorities granted fifty-nine
leagues of land on the northern bank of the river, including all of the site
of Brownsville, to José Salvador de la Garza, who established a ranch about
sixteen miles northwest of the site. During the early nineteenth century a small
number of squatters, most of them herders and farmers from Matamoros, built
huts in the area. A small settlement had formed by 1836, when Texas declared
her independence from Mexico, but the region was still only sparsely settled
when United States troops under Gen. Zachary Taylorqv arrived in early 1846.
After taking up a position across from Matamoros, Taylor's forces began the
construction of a defensive position near the settlement. Their temporary fort
was originally called Fort Texas, but was renamed Fort Brown a short time later,
in honor of Maj. Jacob Brown, who died during a Mexican attack on the stronghold.
After the Mexican War,qv at the signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgoqv
in 1848, the area became part of the state of Texas and fell within the jurisdiction
of San Patricio County. The same year Charles Stillmanqv purchased a large part
of the Garza grant north and northwest of Matamoros, including part of the city's
common landholdings, from the children of the first wife of José Narciso Cavazos.
Cavazos had remarried, however, and the heirs of his second wife, led by the
eldest son, Juan N. Cortina,qv had been given legal title to the property, a
fact that later led to a long series of legal battles over ownership. Stillman
and his partner, Samuel Belden, laid out a town that they called Brownsville.
George Lyons, deputy surveyor of Nueces County, surveyed a townsite of 4,676
acres. In December 1848, Stillman, Belden, and Simon Mussinaqv formed the Brownsville
Town Company and began selling lots for as much as $1,500 each.
The 1960s and 1970s saw a continued period of growth. Between 1950 and 1960
the population increased from 36,066 to 48,040, and by 1970 the town had 52,522
inhabitants. In 1966 the Industrial Development Council was formed to encouraged
new industries, and the following year the Border Industrialization Program
was instituted by the Mexican government to attract Mexican businesses and laborers
to the border area. The results were impressive. Between 1966 and 1978 the Brownsville
area attracted more than 100 industrial firms that offered 13,600 jobs. Major
industries in the early 1990s included petrochemicals, frozen foods, canned
fruits and vegetables, and the manufacture of paper bags, beverages, mill work,
garments, mattresses, hats, and metal products. From the 1970s to the mid-1990s
Brownsville grew rapidly. One estimate suggests that as many as 37 percent of
household heads in 1980 entered the city between 1969 and 1979. Much of the
population growth came from immigration from Mexico, but the area has also seen
growing numbers of retirees from the North and Midwest. In 1980 the population
of the city was 84,997; by 1990 it had increased to 107,027 and numbered 139,722
in 2000. Although approximately 80 percent of the population in the 1990s was
of Mexican decent, Anglos still own most of the city's wealth. The last several
decades, however, have witnessed a growing Hispanic middle class, and Hispanics
have begun to play a larger part in political in community affairs. City leaders
have been particularly interested in expanding educational opportunities in
the area to promote future development. After considerable lobbying from local
leaders the University of Texas System took over Pan American University at
Brownsville and renamed it the University of Texas–Pan American–Brownsville
in 1989. In September 1991 the name was changed to the University of Texas at
Brownsville, and at that time the institution began a partnership with Texas
Southmost College. Despite the recent wave of growth the city is faced with
a variety of problems including substandard housing in coloniasqv and high unemployment.
Nonetheless, Brownsville continues to be a mecca for tourists year round. Points
of interest in and around the city include Fort Brown; the Charles Stillman
home; the sites of the battles of Palo Alto, Resaca de la Palma, and Palmito
Ranch; the Gladys Porter Zoo,South Padre Island and Matamoros.
Current Population: 139,722
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