A native of San Antonio, August C. Richter (1863-1940) moved to Laredo in 1888. He acquired full ownership of an early fixed price department store, "El Precio Fijo." His wife, Julia, played a major role in the city's cultural and educational . . . — — Map (db m289342) HM
Members of a prominent Laredo family, the three Benavides brothers were the descendants of Tomas Sanchez, who founded the city in 1755. Santos (1823-1891) and Refugio Benavides (b. 1824) and their half-brother Cristobal (1839-1904) were best-known . . . — — Map (db m203037) HM
A fine example of the vernacular Mexican structures in Laredo's San Agustín historic district, this house was built about 1879. Rancher Natividad Herrera built the house for his wife, Ester Benavides de Herrera (daughter of Captain Refugio . . . — — Map (db m306378) HM
Born in the Cataluna region of Spain, the Most Rev. Peter Verdaguer de Prat studied in the United States. He was ordained (1862) in San Francisco and ministered at Catholic Indian missions in California. While serving at Our Lady of the Angels . . . — — Map (db m203096) HM
When Juan Fernando de Palacios, Governor of Nuevo Santander, New Spain, designated Laredo as a villa in 1767, he laid out a central plaza as an integral part of the city's plan. During the era of Spanish colonization, the plaza functioned as a place . . . — — Map (db m269486) HM
Laredo experienced substantial growth in the late 1800s and soon the city needed a new cemetery. The process of creating Laredo's fourth Camposanto, however, was not an easy one. Efforts to build the cemetery date to the 1880s, but political . . . — — Map (db m203078) HM
A seventh Texas flag marks this adobe as the 1839-1840 Capitol, Republic of the Rio Grande. Federalists opposed to regime of Santa Anna in Mexico City were headed by Jesus Cardenas as president. Recruited aid in Texas, won victories in Mexico, after . . . — — Map (db m203018) HM
On King of Spain's grant to Don Jose Reyes Ortiz, merchant and go-between for Mexico and Texas. Home to 5 Ortiz generations.
Recorded Texas Historic Landmark-1964 — — Map (db m269483) HM
The earliest burial grounds in Laredo were known as Camposantos (Saints' Fields) by Spanish settlers. Laredo's first Camposanto was probably the one at San Agustín Church. In 1892 the Laredo city council decreed that the cemeteries . . . — — Map (db m203100) HM
In the early 1880s several railroad lines were built into Laredo from both the United States and Mexico, resulting in major economic boom for the city. Laredo's population tripled in size with the arrival of U.S. and Mexican immigrants, and city . . . — — Map (db m202955) HM
500 yards northeast site of the battlefield where Erastus (Deaf) Smith, Captain of Scouts of the Republic of Texas, and 21 Texans on March 17, 1837, had an encounter with a superior force of Mexican cavalry from the Laredo Garrison. Two of Smith's . . . — — Map (db m306377) HM
One of the earliest residential neighborhoods in Laredo, this area was first divided into lots in the 1870s and 1880s. Residents worshiped at San Agustin Catholic Church and La Iglesia Presbiteriana Sinai, which was established in 1895. . . . — — Map (db m265051) HM
In the late 19th and early 20th century, shifting racial hierarchies, large-scale property transfer, and agricultural industrialization led to an extended period of conflict between Texans of Mexican descent and those of Anglo origins. Economic . . . — — Map (db m202960) HM
Established March 3, 1849, by troops of the 1st U.S. Infantry from Ringgold Barracks, under command of Lt. E.L. Viele. The star-shaped earthen fortress built on a bluff overlooking the Rio Grande (1/2 mile NW), was first called Camp Crawford, in . . . — — Map (db m202962) HM
The last remaining of three brick barracks constructed in 1880 by the U.S. Army to quarter troops engaged in scouting and escort duty along the Rio Grande. The structure originally had four large rooms, divided by a central stairway. The exterior . . . — — Map (db m202966) HM
A Tribute to Honor the Sacrifice made by Gold Star Mothers and Families whose sons, daughters, and loved ones paid the Ultimate Price defending our Freedom. — — Map (db m290508) WM
Civil War
Philip Bazaar • Joseph H. De Castro • John Ortega
Boxer Rebellion
France Silva
World War I
David B. Barkeley-Cantu
World War II
Lucian Adamas • Rudolph B. Davila • Marcario Garcia • Harold . . . — — Map (db m290504) WM
The Women's Board of Missions of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, and missionaries Annie Williams and Rebecca Toland, established the Laredo Seminary in 1880 as a boarding school for young women. The school opened in 1882 at a site near the . . . — — Map (db m202972) HM
New York native Samuel Matthias Jarvis (1822-1893) received an engineering degree from Columbia University and joined General Zachary Taylor's army when the United States declared war against Mexico.
After the war Jarvis worked in Vallecillo, . . . — — Map (db m118787) HM
Born in Laredo, Texas, on September 7, 1885, Jovita Idar was a journalist, educator and activist on behalf of the Mexican origin population in south Texas. Born to Nicasio and Jovita (Vivero) Idar, Idar and members of her family participated in . . . — — Map (db m202957) HM
La India Packing Company is a family owned and operated supplier of herbs, spices, and Mexican chocolate. The company has served as an integral part of Laredo’s Hispanic community while offering buyers the unique flavors of Mexican and south . . . — — Map (db m289343) HM
During World War I, Kelly Field (San Antonio), reached its peak training capacity and the U.S. Army built several auxiliary landing fields in South Texas, including one in Laredo north of Fort McIntosh. In 1940, as the nation faced another war, the . . . — — Map (db m269485) HM
Annual elections for city officials, held here since 1767, were followed by rioting in 1886. Citizens were divided among two rival parties. The Guaraches, named for the Mexican Indian sandals, were led by Dario Gonzales. Raymond Martin, a French . . . — — Map (db m203026) HM
The first Laredo Fire Company was organized in 1883. It was known as the Gate City Volunteer Fire Department and initially was comprised of only two men, O.P. Reid and Mauricio "Frenchy" Didieu. Reid and Didieu worked with two independent hose carts . . . — — Map (db m202932) HM
Villa de San Agustin de Laredo, founded here by area rancher Tomas Sanchez in 1755, was an agrarian-based community for its first 125 years. The convergence of three railroad lines here in the 1880s significantly expanded business activity in Laredo . . . — — Map (db m203070) HM
The introduction of the streetcar in Laredo in 1889 saw increased interconnectivity of the city’s residents and businesses, leading to population growth, construction of residential and public spaces, and stimulation of the local economy. In . . . — — Map (db m299314) HM
Telephone service came to Laredo in 1884, just eight years after Alexander Graham Bell obtained the first telephone patent. Housed here in the home of Lázaro and María del Refugio de la Garza (later the home of the Bruni family), the exchange housed . . . — — Map (db m202980) HM
This is an unspoken tribute to the valiant men who fought and died in one final measure of devotion to Country. Florentino Cantu, Jr. • Juan Flores, Jr. • Pedro J. Claudillo • Jose Salustrano Garza • Antonio Garcia • Reynaldo Torres Jr. • Jose . . . — — Map (db m290509) WM
In memory of the heroes of Laredo
who gave their lives during the World War
1917 — 1918
Honor Roll
Maurice Akabass • George Bigden • Adam Bold • Moises Carrejo • Jack Correu • Alfred J. Cousineau • Leonardo Diaz • Louis F. Folsom • . . . — — Map (db m254673) WM
In Memorium World War II Dec. 7, 1941 - Sept. 2, 1945 Korean Conflict June 25, 1950 - July 26, 1953 “That we here highly resolve that these dead shall not died in vain…”
World War II Guillermo Abrego • John B. . . . — — Map (db m290510) WM
In 1897, Laredo's local lodge of the Great Council of Texas of the Improved Order of Red Men decided to organize a celebration of George Washington's birthday. On February 21, 1898, the Red Men held a two-day festival featuring a mock battle, . . . — — Map (db m202954) HM
John Z. Leyendecker, a German immigrant who settled in the Texas Hill Country in 1845, came to Laredo between 1848 and 1850. A prominent merchant, Confederate Army officer and civic leader, he built this house in 1866. His first wife was Maria . . . — — Map (db m202978) HM
Founded by Tomas Sanchez May 15 1755 by Order of Jose De Escandon, Colonizer of Nuevo Santander
Reverse Side
Chartered by the King of Spain and Organized as Villa De San Agustin De Laredo in 1767. Incorporated in the State of . . . — — Map (db m241024) HM
Born in Laredo on March 31, 1899, David Bennes Cantú Barkley was the son of Josef Barkley, a career Army man stationed at Fort McIntosh, and Antonia Cantú. After the birth of David's sister Amelia, the family moved to San Antonio in 1904. At the age . . . — — Map (db m202964) HM
Radcliffe Killam Oliver Winfield “O.W.” Killam and Harriet Smith Killam, the parents of Radcliffe Killam, were born and educated in Missouri, and moved to Laredo in 1920. With them traveled their son, Radcliffe Killam, born in Grove, Oklahoma on . . . — — Map (db m289347) HM
Engaged in much of Laredo's early history, the Ramón family occupied residential property at this site by 1869. Patriarch of the family was Ildefonso Ramón, who was in the Laredo area by 1800 and served as Alcalde for several terms. His son, José . . . — — Map (db m203046) HM
In the 1930s, Laredo's growing scholastic population dictated the need for a new high school, as students outgrew the campus built on Zaragoza Street twenty years before. Superintendent William Patrick Galligan oversaw construction of a new high . . . — — Map (db m202930) HM
A native of Laredo, Jose del Refugio Benavides was a descendant of Tomas Sanchez, who founded the city in 1755. As a member of one of Laredo's most celebrated families, he was instrumental in the city's development during the 19th century. He was . . . — — Map (db m203097) HM
In January 1840 Señor Antonio Canales and other Federalists met near Guerrero to found the Republic of the Rio Grande. Canales and friends were loyal to the Mexican Constitution of 1824, which had been set aside by Centralists in Mexico City. The . . . — — Map (db m203001) HM
Alexander Cameron Hunt, former territorial governor of Colorado, built the Pecos and Rio Grande Railroad northwest from Laredo to the coal mining region along the Rio Grande. Construction of the narrow-gauge line began in March 1882 as 100 men . . . — — Map (db m301433) HM
The arrival of the railroad in Laredo in 1881, along with the influx of exiles into the city after the Mexican Revolution, contributed to an increase in the city's population and the need for another Catholic school. In 1922, the Oblate fathers were . . . — — Map (db m195564) HM
This congregation, the second Catholic Church organized in Laredo, began in 1897 as an English-speaking parish to serve non-Spanish speaking families who arrived in Laredo during the 1880s. The church structure, designed by German craftsman Heinrich . . . — — Map (db m202961) HM
San Bernardo Avenue, which began as a commercial road in Laredo, became known as the San Antonio Highway by 1938, replacing the earlier route along Santa Maria Avenue. Due to the anticipated increase in tourism, San Bernardo Avenue property started . . . — — Map (db m202924) HM
Santos Benavides, son of Jose Jesus and Marguerita Benavides and great-great grandson of Laredo founder Tomas Sánchez, was born in Laredo on November 1, 1823. He married Augustina Villarreal in 1842.
Benavides, appointed Procurador . . . — — Map (db m203093) HM
Leading merchants in Corpus Christi began planning the Corpus Christi and Rio Grande Railroad in the 1850s to boost the south Gulf Coast as a center for commerce. Lack of funding and an economic slump prevented progress until 1875 when Uriah Lott . . . — — Map (db m195565) HM
This handsome Classical Revival structure was constructed in 1907 by the United States Treasury Department. Under the supervision of architect James Knox Taylor, the federal building symbolized the modernization of Laredo associated with the rapid . . . — — Map (db m195557) HM
Formed from Nueces County
Created January 28, 1848
Organized March 16, 1848
Named in honor of
James Webb, 1792-1856
Attorney General and Secretary
of State of The Republic of Texas
1838-1841
Laredo, the County Seat
Founded in . . . — — Map (db m241026) HM
1000 Houston Street
Built in 1909
Listed in the
National Register of Historic Places
by the United States
Department of the Interior
— — Map (db m118760) HM
Roberto Zuniga moved to Laredo in 1916 from Monterrey, Mexico and established a custom brokerage business in 1918 with his brother Alfonso Zuniga. Roberto and Elvira Zuniga hired the local John O. Buenz Lumber Company to build this house in 1923 . . . — — Map (db m289344) HM
