BROWNSVILLE, a city in the southern tip of Texas, U.S.A., 2 50m. S.E. of San Antonio, on the Rio Grande, about 22M. from its mouth, opposite Matamoras, Mexico; a port of entry and the county seat of Cameron county. It is connected by the Rio Grande railway with Point Isabel on the Gulf of Mexico, where a deep-water harbour was under construction (1928) by the Fed eral Government ; and is served by the Missouri Pacific and the Southern Pacific railways. Population in 192o was 11,791, of whom 3,782 were foreign-born whites; and was 22,021 m 1930 by the Federal census. It has a considerable trade with northern Mex ico, and is the financial and commercial centre of the rich lower Rio Grande valley, of which about a third (5oo,000 acres) is un der irrigation, and where the growing season lasts 365 days, and two or three crops a year on the same land are the rule. Grape fruit, early vegetables, cotton and corn are the leading products.
There is a large natural palm grove six miles from the city. An ocean drive of i4om. runs from Boca Chica, near the mouth of the river, to Corpus Christi bay. A great variety of fish and game abounds for the sportsman, including tarpon in the Gulf and leopard cats and Mexican lions across the river. Fort Brown, a picturesque military reservation of 288 acres, with a garrison averaging 400 men, adjoins Brownsville on the east. An annual polo tournament is held there in January. Established by General Zachary Taylor in March 1846, and at first called Fort Taylor, it was renamed in honour of Major Jacob Brown, who was mor tally wounded in its defence during the bombardment from across the river (May 3-10, 1846). At Palo Alto, 14m. N.E., and at Resaca de la Palma, 4m. N., General Taylor defeated the Mexi cans under General Arista on May 8 and May 9, 1846. There was a small Mexican settlement on the site of Brownsville before the Mexican War. The town was surveyed in 1848, and named after Major Brown. In 1849 it became an important outfitting-point for gold-seekers on their way to California. For several decades its fortunes fluctuated sharply, and it suffered from yellow fever, fires, Mexican revolutions, speculators, and the machinations of political parties. In 1859 it was captured by Mexican raiders. During the Civil War, until occupied by Federal forces in 1863, it was an active centre of operations by Confederate blockade runners. The last engagement of the war took place at Palmetto Ranch, near the battlefield of Palo Alto, on May 13, 1865, more than a month after General Lee had surrendered. The present period of the city's development began when the railway from the north reached it in 1904, and is based on the agricultural possi bilities of the valley. It has a city-manager form of government.