The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Laredo, Texas, USA.
18th-19th centuries
1755 - May 15: Villa de Laredo founded by Tomás Sánchez and others in Spanish colonial Nuevo Santander, Viceroyalty of New Spain. 1760 - Chapel built. 1767 - San Agustin Church founded. 1790 - Population: 708. 1821 - Laredo becomes part of independent Mexican Empire. 1840 - Laredo becomes capital of the Mexican insurgent Republic of the Rio Grande during the Mexican Federalist War. 1846 - Laredo taken by U.S. Texas Rangers during the Mexican–American War. 1847 - U.S. forces occupy town. 1848 Laredo becomes part of the U.S. per Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo at end of Mexican–American War. Webb County, Texas created. 1849 - U.S. military Camp Crawford established. 1852 - Laredo "chartered as a Texas city." 1860 - Population: 1,256. 1872 - San Agustin Church rebuilt. 1880 Corpus Christi-Laredo railway begins operating. Population: 3,521. 1881 Mexico-Laredo railway begins operating. St. Peter's neighborhood development begins. City plan for Laredo and Nuevo Laredo, "'Plano de los Dos Laredos' created by E.R. Laroche." 1882 Laredo Seminary and city water works established. County Courthouse built. 1883 - Daily Laredo Times newspaper begins publication. 1888 - Laredo Improvement Company formed. 1889 Street railway begins operating. "Foot and wagon bridge built across the Rio Grande" at Convent Avenue. 1890 - Population: 11,319. 1898 - Onion farming begins (approximate date). 1900 - Population: 13,429.
20th century
1904 - Laredo Academy established. 1907 - Laredo United States Post Office, Court House and Custom House built. 1908 - Discovery of natural gas in vicinity of Laredo. 1909 - Webb County Courthouse built. 1910 - Population: 14,855. 1911 - Liga Femenil Mexicanista (women's group) founded in Laredo. 1915 - Laredo public library active (approximate date). 1920 Texas Mexican Railway International Bridge opened. Population: 22,710. 1922 International Bridge opens. Azteca Theater opens. 1937 - Foundry Workers' Union of Laredo formed. 1938 - KPAB radio begins broadcasting. 1946 - Fort McIntosh, Texas de-activated. 1947 - Laredo Junior College established. 1950 - Population: 51,910. 1954 - Flood. 1956 - KGNS-TV (television) begins broadcasting. 1969 - Texas A&M International University established. 1970 River Drive Mall in business. Population: 69,678. 1977 - Mall del Norte in business. 1978 - Aldo Tatangelo becomes mayor. 1980 Webb County Heritage Foundation established. Population: 91,449. 1990 Saul N. Ramirez, Jr. becomes mayor. Population: 122,899. 1993 Laredo Community College active. Cinemark Movies 12 (cinema) in business. 1998 - Betty Flores becomes mayor. 2000 Roman Catholic Diocese of Laredo established. Population: 176,576.
21st century
2001 - City website online (approximate date). 2005 - Henry Cuellar becomes U.S. representative for Texas's 28th congressional district. 2006 - Raul G. Salinas becomes mayor. 2007 - Cinemark Mall Del Norte (cinema) in business. 2008 - Rio Grande Detention Center opens, housing up to 1900 federal prisoners for the U.S. government 2010 - Population: 236,091. 2014 - Pete Saenz becomes mayor.
See also Laredo, Texas history (es) List of mayors of Laredo, Texas National Register of Historic Places listings in Webb County, Texas Nuevo Laredo, Mexico history (es) Timelines of other cities in the South Texas area of Texas: Brownsville, Corpus Christi, McAllen, San Antonio
References
Bibliography
Stanley Cooper Green, Laredo, 1755–1920 (Laredo: Nuevo Santander Museum Complex, 1981) Gilberto Miguel Hinojosa, A Borderlands Town in Transition: Laredo, 1755–1870 (College Station: Texas A&M University Press, 1983) Jerry Don Thompson, Laredo: A Pictorial History (Norfolk: Donning, 1986)
External links
Items related to Laredo, various dates (via Digital Public Library of America).