City of Brownsville: Preserving the past and launching into the future – KGBT-TV

BROWNSVILLE, Texas (ValleyCentral) Friday, ValleyCentral will head out to the city of Brownsville for the matchup between the Rivera Early College Raiders and the HarlingenSouth Hawks.Before the Friday night game kicks off, we are taking a look at Brownsvilles pastand present to get a sense of what the citys future may look like.

Brownsville, Texasis becoming the talk ofthe Rio Grande Valley, and arguably,aroundthe world. FromSouth Padre Islandto McAllen,the eyes and ears of entrepreneurs, socialites, and casual residents are on Brownsville, and the consensus is, nows the time to invest in Brownsville.

After several years of being economically and socially overshadowed by competitiveValleytowns to the West, Brownsville is now enjoying its renaissance.Waves of renewed interestcan be seen in the city through the establishment of new businessesandthe creation of art, but also through the preservation of whatwas already there.

TofullyappreciateBrownsville, one must get toknow a bit of its 173 years of history.Brownsville historian, Eugene Fernandez, produced 180 segments on individualpoints in the citys history and says Brownsville has seenvariousmajor periods of growth throughout its history.

The city was founded in 1848 at the end of the Mexican-American Warand through the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgowhichrecognized thesouthern-most boundaries for the United Statesas theRio Grandeand allowed for colonization. The Treaty alsoset the precedent for the intertwined relationship between Brownsville and Matamoros that carries on to the present day.

The next boom camein the 1860sduring the Civil War; Brownsville and Matamoros served as a port for importing and exporting goods to confederate troops.Another significant occurrence in the historyof the area was the Battle ofPalmitoHillwith was the final battle of the Civil War. The historical marker islocated is down Highway 4, near SpaceX.

Theres a long-time debate out there about whats the most historic city inTexas? Everybody pops up and they say San Antonio; thats simply not true. Because if you take the Missions out of San Antoniotheres nothing that San Antonio did that came up on the world stage, but Brownsville has time after time after time been on the world stage, and one of them was the Battle ofPalmitoHill, said Fernandez.

Remnants of the establishment of the city can be found all over the downtown area;manybuildings inspired by French architecturein the 1850s still stand. Many of these buildings are receiving much-needed maintenance and updates with money donated by the Musk Foundations and through investments from business owners. They will soon be the highlights of a revitalizedhistoricdowntownBrownsvillethat includes modern attractions.

Brownsvilles close proximity to SpaceXs Starbase on Boca Chica has attracted attention from space enthusiasts around the globe. On any given day, tourists will travel out to Boca Chica to see the lunch site from which humans may one day leave to Mars.

Circlingaround tofootball, tonights game will be played at the 10,000-seatSamsMemorial Stadium. The stadium wascompleted in 1957 with generous contributions from theSamsFoundation; the same foundation that also established the Gladys Porter Zoo.

Of the seven early college high schools in Brownsville, Rivera EarlyCollege High School was thefourth to be established in 1988.The game will kick off at 7 p.m. You can watch our CBS 4 On the Road show live at Sams Stadium for our 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. shows and our Local 23 Road Trip at 4 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. As well as our behind the scene coverage on our social media platforms.

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City of Brownsville: Preserving the past and launching into the future - KGBT-TV