ACCOMODATIONS & SERVICES  IN THE RIO GRANDE VALLEY, TEXAS

The Rio Grande Valley (Sp: Valle del Río Grande), also known as RGV, is a socio-cultural region spanning the border of Texas and Mexico located in a floodplain of the Rio Grande near its mouth. The area is generally bilingual in English and Spanish, with a fair amount of Spanglish due to the diverse history of the region. A large seasonal influx occurs of people who come down from the north for the winter and then leave before summer arrives called "Winter Texans”

The Rio Grande Valley is 4,872 square miles. The largest city on the American side of the region is Brownsville (Cameron County), followed by McAllen (Hidalgo County). Other major cities include Harlingen, Edinburg, Mission, Rio Grande City, Raymondville, Weslaco, Hidalgo and Pharr. The largest city on the Mexico side is Reynosa. 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. According to the U.S. Census Bureau in 2008, 86 percent of Cameron County and 90 percent of Hidalgo County, are Hispanic.

RGV is a warm and fair climate that brings visitors from many surrounding areas. While the Valley has seen severe cold events before, the region rarely experiences temperatures at or below freezing, especially by the coast, which transitions into a Tropical climate. The region’s proximity to the Gulf of Mexico makes it a target for hurricanes. Though not impacted as frequently as other areas of the Gulf Coast of the United States, having an especially flat terrain, the Valley usually experiences the catastrophic effects of tropical cyclones in the form of flooding.

Valley International Airport serves the Rio Grande Valley community, with service on seven passenger and two cargo airlines, including one international passenger airline, Mexico's VivaAerobus.

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 make up over 70% of the Valley citrus crop, which also includes orange, tangerine, tangelo and Meyer lemon production each Winter

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. In fact, USA Today calls the National Butterfly Center, in Mission, Texas, "the butterfly capital of the USA." More than 200 species have been seen at the National Butterfly Center. Ecotourism is a major economic force in the Rio Grande Valley. South Texas is known for its beautiful beaches, which is why spring breakers have flocked to the longest stretch of beach in Texas, South Padre Island, for decades.

The Valley is a popular waypoint for tourists visiting northeast Mexico. Popular destinations across the border and Rio Grande include: Matamoros, Nuevo Progreso, Río Bravo, and Reynosa, all located in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas. The region also attracts tourists from the Mexican states of Tamaulipas, Nuevo León, Coahuila, and Mexico, D.F. (México City).

Popular destinations in the valley include Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge, Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge, Bentsen-Rio Grande Valley State Park, South Padre Island, Brazos Island, Palo Alto Battlefield & Palmito Ranch Battlefield, Rio Grande City and Roma Historic Districts, Schlitterbahn Beach Water Park, Los Caminos del Rio, Los Ebanos Ferry, Iwo Jima Memorial, Sea Turtle, Inc. and the Port Isabel Lighthouse. Some of the best museums include the South Texas History Museum, Mission Historical Museum, La Lomita Mission, International Museum of Art & Science, and Costumes of the America’s Museum. Town Lake at Firemen’s Park in McAllen is a 3-acre lake, with many other outdoor activities. RGV Livestock Show, which includes a rodeo, concerts, horse show competitions, a carnival midway, BBQ cookoff, competitive and interactive exhibits, and more.

Rich with history, activities for all ages, 200 plus resorts and rv parks, state parks for camping and great weather, the Rio Grande Valley is wonderful place to bring your family and don’t forget to check out Mexico just across the Progreso International bridge into the safest border town in Texas, Nuevo Progreso.

Native peoples lived in small tribes in the area before the Spanish conquest.[8] The native tribes in South Texas were known to be hunter-gatherer peoples.[9] The area was known for its smaller nomadic tribes collectively called Coahuiltecan.[9] Native archaeological excavations near Brownsville have shown evidence of prehistoric shell trading.[10]

The first villas in the region were settled in Laredo and Reynosa in 1767.[11] In 1805, the Spanish government solidified the autonomy of the region by defining the territory of Nuevo Santander as south of the colony of Tejas from the Nueces River south to Tampico, Charcas, and Valles.[11][13] The local government of the region had a rough start with various indigenous wars up until 1812.[14] In 1821 after the Mexican War of Independence, the state was renamed Tamaulipas.

The Texas Revolution of 1835-1836 put the majority of what is now called the Rio Grande Valley under contested Texan sovereignty.[6] The area also became a thoroughfare for runaway slaves fleeing to Mexico.[15]

In 1844, the United States under President James K. Polk annexed the Republic of Texas, against British and Mexican sentiments,[16] contributing to the onset of the Mexican–American War.[16] The area along the Rio Grande was the source of several major battles, including the Battle of Resaca de la Palma near Brownsville.[17] The war ended in 1848 with the signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo 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.[18]

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.[18] Despite the end of the formal war in 1848, interracial strife continued between native peoples and the white settlers over land through the 1920s.[8][19]

At the turn of the 20th century trade and immigration between Mexico and the United States was a normal part of society.[2] 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.[20] 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 ranchers.[21]

Meanwhile, across the river, Mexico was dealing with the Mexican Revolution.[20] The revolution spilled over the border through cross-border supply raids, and in response President Taft sent the United States Army 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.[2]

The region played host to several well known conflicts including the backlash from the Plan of San Diego, and the racially fueled violence of Texas Ranger Harry Ransom.[2] In 1921 the United States Border Patrol came to the region with less than 10 officers.[22] Initially the agency was focused on import and export business, especially alcohol during Prohibition in the United States, but later moved to detaining illegal aliens.[23]

The North American Free Trade Agreement, 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.[28] Exports and imports tripled in the region and accounted for a trade surplus of $75 billion.[28] 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.[29] 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.[29] The Trump Administration decided to make new accords with Mexico and Canada and replaced NAFTA with the new trade agreement, United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement (USMCA) in 2018.