Brownsville Deep Water Port Opening [Cover]
Name/Title
Brownsville Deep Water Port Opening [Cover]Description
Cover from the Brownsville Port Celebration, Inc to Texas Senator Tom Connally celebrating the opening of the Brownsville Port during the Texas Centennial Celebration. Inside this envelope is a note: “I am inclosing herewith a cover which came to Senator Connally on the occasion of the Port Celebration at Brownsville. This cover is dated May 16 and has a Texas Centennial stamp with a cartouche indicative of its origin. I thought this might interest Amon, Jr. and I suggest that you forward it to him for his collection. You will note that instead of being back-stamped it is signed by Wm. T. Burnette, Postmaster.”Context
The population of Brownsville, which was just over 6,000 in 1900, grew nearly four-fold during the next three decades, reaching 22,021 in 1930. The 1920s witnessed a series of civic improvements: roads were paved, a new international bridge was opened, and the first airport was constructed. Efforts were also begun to build a ship channel from Brazos Santiago Pass, so that deepwater vessels could dock in Brownsville. In December, 1928, voters approved a measure establishing the Brownsville Navigation District and provided $2 million in bonds to build the channel. The work initially went slowly, but after a major hurricane hit the area in 1933 the Public Works Administration lent money to the district to complete the seventeen-mile-long channel and build a turning basin and terminal facilities. The port of Brownsville, located five miles northeast of the city, was officially opened on May 15, 1936. State Highway 48 runs alongside the seventeen-mile-long ship channel that connects the port to the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway. The port was originally 32 feet deep and 200 feet wide, while the turning basin was 36 feet deep by 1,000 feet wide and handled five million tons of cargo annually. The port of Brownsville is on the Brownsville Ship Channel, and the turning basin is about seventeen miles (14.5 nautical miles) inland from Brazos Santiago Pass.Category
Urbanization
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