Barrio Azteca Historic District

	Barrio Azteca Historic District
	U.S. National Register of Historic Places
	Spanish Colonial House on Zaragoza Street
	Barrio Azteca Historic District Barrio Azteca Historic District
Location	Roughly bounded by I-35, Matamoros St., Arroyo Zacate, and the Rio Grande, Laredo, Texas
Coordinates	27°30′9″N99°29′54″W / 27.50250°N 99.49833°W Coordinates: 27°30′9″N99°29′54″W / 27.50250°N 99.49833°W
Area	120 acres (49 ha)
Architectural style	Mission, Spanish Revival
NRHP reference #	03000431 [1]
Added to NRHP	May 21, 2003

Last updated March 13, 2019

El Azteca is one of the oldest and most intact residential neighborhoods in Laredo, Texas, with buildings dating from the 1870s representing nearly every major architectural type and style that has appeared on the border since that time.^[2]

Laredo is the county seat of Webb County, Texas, United States, on the north bank of the Rio Grande in South Texas, across from Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, Mexico. According to the 2010 census, the city population was 236,091, making it the tenth-most populous city in the state of Texas and third-most populated on the Mexico–United States border, after San Diego, California, and El Paso, Texas. Its metropolitan area is the 178th-largest in the U.S. and includes all of Webb County, with a population of 250,304. Laredo is also part of the cross-border Laredo-Nuevo Laredo Metropolitan Area with an estimated population of 636,516.

Location

Neighborhood east of Downtown Laredo, Roughly bounded by Interstate 35, Matamoros Street (U.S. Highway 83), Zacate Creek, and the Rio Grande.

Downtown Laredo is the second main business district in Laredo, Texas. Downtown Laredo is the starting point for Interstate Highway 35 and State Highway 359. It is home to all of Laredo's high-rise buildings. Laredo's and Webb County's main government buildings are located in Downtown Laredo. Most of Webb County's National Register of Historic Places are in this area.

Interstate 35 (I-35) is a major Interstate Highway in the central United States. As with most interstates that end in a five, it is a major cross-country, north-south route stretching from Laredo, Texas, at the Mexican-American border to Duluth, Minnesota, at Minnesota Highway 61 and 26th Avenue East. The highway splits into Interstate 35E and Interstate 35W in two separate places, the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex in Texas and at the Minnesota twin cities of Minneapolis–Saint Paul.

Zacate Creek is inside Laredo, Texas city limits and runs southwest for 10 miles until it connects to the Rio Grande. Zacate Creek has several ditches leading to it. The terrain surrounding the creek is mostly clay. The vegetation surrounding the creek is mostly made up of mesquite, cacti, and grasses. Zacate Creek and branches cross several highways in Laredo, Texas among them are: Interstate 35, United States Route 59, Texas State Highway Spur 400, Texas State Highway 359, and United States Route 83. The northern branch of the Zacate Creek has a small dam which formed a pond located in Northeast Laredo which is usually filled during storms. The city of Laredo has developed the Zacate Creek Park and the Zacate Creek Greenway, a three mile trail near the creek.

History

El Azteca's earliest inhabitants were descendants of Spanish colonists who began settlement efforts along the lower Rio Grande in the mid-18th century. Later, immigrants from the Mexico contributed to the growth of the community and provided much of the labor for the newly arrived international railroad in 1881. By the turn of the 20th century, El Azteca was a thriving community of homes and small businesses populated almost exclusively by Mexican and Mexican-American residents.

El Azteca is significant as a diverse, multi-layered cultural landscape. The neighborhood took its name from El Azteca Theatre which opened in 1922 as the Teatro Nacional, a venue for theatrical and vaudeville performances. In the 1930s, when moving pictures supplanted live theater in popularity, it became known as El Azteca movie house and showed Spanish language films. A second theater, the Iturbide Theater, operated nearby and it was known as the “Home of Spanish Vaudeville.” The neighborhood was also the home of noted residents of Mexican origin who migrated escaping the Mexican Revolution.

Recognition

Designated as a National Register Historic District in 2003,^[3] El Azteca is distinctive for its setting, layout and landscape features. The neighborhood is situated on a high bluff overlooking the Rio Grande which not only forms its southern boundary, but designates the international boundary between the United States and Mexico. Zacate Creek, a steep-walled creek that, in earlier times, provided fresh water to its inhabitants and livestock, defines its eastern boundary. Zacate Creek was the site for one of the last battles of the Civil War, the Battle of Laredo, in 1865. The first electric streetcar line built west of the Mississippi River passed through the neighborhood and crossed Zacate Creek via the Iturbide Street Bridge. The bridge and streetcar connected both the neighborhood and city of Laredo to the newly developing commercial and residential sections of the city that began growing to the east of the creek.

The Battle of Laredo was fought during the American Civil War. Laredo, Texas was a main route to export cotton to Mexico on behalf of the Confederate States. On March 18, 1864, Major Alfred Holt led a Union force of about 200 men from Brownsville, Texas, to destroy 5,000 bales of cotton stacked at the San Agustín Plaza. Colonel Santos Benavides commanded 42 Confederate soldiers and repelled three Union attacks at Zacate Creek. Colonel Santos Benavides secured passage of the 5,000 cotton bales into Mexico.

Cut off from the historic center of Laredo by Interstate 35 in the late 1970s,^[4] Barrio Azteca has retained much of its historic fabric. The neighborhood maintains a sufficient concentration of historic properties, some of which are rare, even extraordinary, examples of domestic and commercial vernacular architecture found only in the borderlands region of South Texas.

Mural on 20 Iturbide Street Building.
Sandstone building, one of the oldest structures in the neighborhood.

Related Research Articles

The Rio Grande is one of the principal rivers in the southwest United States and northern Mexico. The Rio Grande begins in south-central Colorado in the United States and flows to the Gulf of Mexico. Along the way, it forms part of the Mexico–United States border. According to the International Boundary and Water Commission, its total length was 1,896 miles (3,051 km) in the late 1980s, though course shifts occasionally result in length changes. Depending on how it is measured, the Rio Grande is either the fourth- or fifth-longest river system in North America.

Santos Benavides was a Confederate colonel during the American Civil War. Benavides was the highest-ranking Tejano soldier in the Confederate military.

South Texas region of the U.S. state of Texas

South Texas is a region of the U.S. state of Texas that lies roughly south of—and sometimes including—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 million according to the 2017 census estimates. The southern portion of this region is often referred to as the Rio Grande Valley. The eastern portion along the Gulf of Mexico is also referred to as the Coastal Bend.

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 the U.S. city of Laredo, Texas. The 2010 census population of the city was 373,725. Nuevo Laredo is part of the Laredo-Nuevo Laredo Metropolitan Area with a population of 636,516. The municipality has an area of 1,334.02 km² (515.07 sq mi). Both the city and the municipality rank as the third largest in the state.

The Plaza Theatre is a historic building in El Paso, Texas built in 1930. The theater stands as one of the city's most well-known landmarks, and remains operational today. The theatre is a National Historic Building of Significance featuring the 2,050-seat Kendall Kidd Performance Hall, and the smaller 200-seat Philanthropy Theatre. It hosts Broadway productions, musical concerts, individual performers and the annual Plaza Classic Film Festival.

The Juárez–Lincoln International Bridge is one of four vehicular international bridges located in the cities of Laredo, Texas, and Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, that connect the United States and Mexico over the Rio Grande. It is owned and operated by City of Laredo and the Secretaria de Comunicaciones y Transportes.

The World Trade International Bridge is one of 4 international bridges located in the cities of Laredo, Texas, and Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, that connect the United States and Mexico over the Rio Grande. It is owned and operated by City of Laredo and the Secretaría de Comunicaciones y Transportes. It is also known as Laredo International Bridge 4.

Republic of the Rio Grande Museum is a historic house museum located in the downtown San Agustin de Laredo Historic District in Laredo, Texas, United States, next to the historic La Posada Hotel and San Agustín Cathedral. The Mexican vernacular structure was built in 1830 as a house with an addition in 1860. Among the people who have lived there was prominent rancher Bartolomé García, who was also one of Laredo's mayors.

The Laredo–Nuevo Laredo Metropolitan Area is one of six bi-national metropolitan areas along the U.S.-Mexican border. The city of Laredo is situated in the U.S. state of Texas on the northern bank of the Rio Grande and Nuevo Laredo is located in the Mexican State of Tamaulipas in the southern bank of the river. This metropolitan area is also known as the Two Laredos or the Laredo Borderplex. The metropolitan area is made up of one county: Webb County in Texas and three municipalities: Nuevo Laredo Municipality in Tamaulipas, Hidalgo Municipality in Coahuila, Anáhuac Municipality in Nuevo León in Mexico. Two urban areas: the Laredo Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Zona Metropolitana Nuevo Laredo three cities and 12 towns make the Laredo–Nuevo Laredo Metropolitan area which has a total of 636,516 inhabitants according to the INEGI Census of 2010 and the United States Census estimate of 2010. The Laredo–Nuevo Laredo is connected by four International Bridges and an International Railway Bridge. According to World Gazetteer this metropolitan area ranked 157th largest in North and South America in 2010 with an estimated population of 775,481. This area ranks 66th in the United States and 23rd in Mexico.

The Roma Historic District in Roma, Texas preserves an intact example of a border town in the lower Rio Grande valley. The town was an important port and transshipment point on the Rio Grande from 1829 to the 1880s.

The San Agustin de Laredo Historic District is a historical district that covers what was once the original city of Laredo, Texas that was established by Don Tomás Sánchez. Today, the district is located in Downtown Laredo. The San Agustin District is home to San Agustin Cathedral and to the Republic of the Rio Grande Capitol. Most of the district's streets are made from bricks. Most of the buildings in the district reflect Spanish and Mexican influences and are made from masonry. The district is considered the last example of Spanish Colonization of the Lower Rio Grande Valley. The San Agustin de Laredo Historic District is registered in the National Register of Historic Places since 1973. Its historic significance is Architecture and Engineering. Its architectural style is Mission, Spanish Revival, and Greek Revival.

The U.S. Post Office and Courthouse is a historic government building located in Laredo in Webb County, Texas. It previously served as a custom house and a courthouse for the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas. It continues to serve as a post office.

Interstate 69W (I-69W) is a relatively short north–south Interstate Highway running through South Texas in the United States. The freeway begins northeast of the middle of World Trade International Bridge in Laredo and ends at I-35. In the future, I-69W will head northeast for 180 miles (290 km) before terminating near Victoria as both I-69E and I-69W merge to form I-69. For its entire length, I-69W runs concurrently with US Highway 59 (US 59).

The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Laredo, Texas, USA.

References

↑ National Park Service (2010-07-09). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service.
↑ Myers, Terri; Moore, Hardy Heck (June 2000). Historic Resources Survey of the El Azteca Neighborhood, Laredo, Texas: An Inventory and Survey Report Prepared for the City of Laredo. Austin, TX.
↑ American Dreams Inc. "National Register of Historic Places in Webb Co. TX". National Register of Historic Places.com. Retrieved 7 September 2011.
↑ Clark, John W. "Plaza de la Noria Site". Plaza de la Noria Site. The Handbook of Texas Online. Retrieved 7 September 2011.

External links

Media related to Barrio Azteca Historic District at Wikimedia Commons

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[nris-1] National Park Service (2010-07-09). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service.

[2] Myers, Terri; Moore, Hardy Heck (June 2000). Historic Resources Survey of the El Azteca Neighborhood, Laredo, Texas: An Inventory and Survey Report Prepared for the City of Laredo. Austin, TX.

[3] American Dreams Inc. "National Register of Historic Places in Webb Co. TX". National Register of Historic Places.com. Retrieved 7 September 2011.

[4] Clark, John W. "Plaza de la Noria Site". Plaza de la Noria Site. The Handbook of Texas Online. Retrieved 7 September 2011.

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