Harlingen, Texas
Encyclopedia : H : HA : HAR : Harlingen, Texas
Harlingen is a city in Cameron County in the Rio Grande Valley of south Texas, United States. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 57,564. The city is probably named after the Dutch town of Harlingen.
Geography
Harlingen is located at (26.192203, -97.696275)[Geographic references#1GR1].According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 88.9 km² (34.3 mi²). 88.2 km² (34.1 mi²) of it is land and 0.7 km² (0.3 mi²) of it (0.76%) is water.
Transportation
Harlingen is known to be the logistics center of the Rio Grande Valley. The city's airport, Valley International Airport (HRL), has a service area with more than 2 million citizens of the Lower Rio Grande Valley and Northern Mexico. The airport lies approximately mid-way between Brownsville and McAllen, and offers an attractive border-crossing option via the Free Trade Bridge at Los Indios. The airport has aligned itself as the Air Cargo Hub of the Rio Grande Valley and works closely with carriers, such as UPS, DHL, FedEx, BAX Global, Menlo Worldwide, and Southwest Cargo. In 1975, Southwest Airlines began to fly to the Rio Grande Valley via the Harlingen Airport with four roundtrips each business day.Expressways - Two four-lane divided expressways intersect in Harlingen: U.S. Highway 77 and 83. U.S. Highway 77 connects to Interstate 37 at Corpus Christi. U.S. Highway 83 connects with Interstate 35 at Laredo.
Free Trade Bridge at Los Indios - A state of the art international bridge is located just 10 miles from Harlingen. This four-lane international crossing, is one of the largest and most modern ports of entry in South Texas. With a full U.S. Customs inspection facility that accommodates up to 75 trucks simultaneously, the Free Trade Bridge is acclaimed as the most time-efficient crossing. The Free Trade Bridge accesses a four-lane highway in northern Mexico, offering a fast route to the border cities of Matamoros and Reynosa, as well as the industrial city of Monterrey. With the completion of Mexico's State of Tamaulipas new 'autopista', the Free Trade Bridge will provide a seamless highway connection for more efficient distribution of industrial products to interior Mexico.
Port of Harlingen - The Port of Harlingen is located four miles east of Harlingen on Highway 106. It is 25 miles West of Mile Marker 646 on the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway, which stretches from the Mexican border at Brownsville, along the entire coast of the Gulf of Mexico to St. Marks, Florida. The Gulf Intracoastal Waterway provides over 1,300 miles of protected waterway, 12' deep and 125' wide. The Harlingen Channel is maintained to a width of 125 feet and a depth of 12 feet and is supplied by the Arroyo Colorado, a fresh water river.
Railroad - Union Pacific Railroad has a local terminal and switching yard in Harlingen. The Harlingen Industrial Parks and Port of Harlingen have direct rail access.
Education
Colleges and universities
Regional Academic Health Center (RAHC), Texas State Technical College, South Texas College, University of Texas at Brownsville and Texas Southmost College, University of Texas Pan American.K-12 schools
Harlingen Consolidated Independent School District serves almost all of Harlingen. A few fringe portions of the city lie in the Rio Hondo Independent School District and the San Benito Consolidated Independent School District.In addition, South Texas Independent School District operates magnet schools that serve Harlingen and many surrounding communities.
Private Schools include: Marine Military Academy - All male college prep school, founded on the teachings of the United States Marine Corps, Valley Baptist Academy, St. Alban's Episcopal School, St. Anthony Catholic School, Calvary Christian School, St. Paul Lutheran School
Demographics
As of the census[Geographic references#2GR2] of 2000, there were 57,564 people, 19,021 households, and 14,360 families residing in the city. The population density was 652.4/km² (1,689.6/mi²). There were 23,008 housing units at an average density of 260.7/km² (675.3/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 78.68% White, 0.92% Black or African American, 0.52% Native American, 0.88% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 16.39% from other races, and 2.58% from two or more races. 72.76% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race; most are of Mexican descent, but there are significant numbers of Central and South Americans, Puerto Ricans, Cubans etc.As in other cities in the Lower Rio Grande Valley, a significant part of Harlingen's transient population and a significant contributor to its economy consists of "Winter Texans." Winter Texans are generally retirees from the northern Midwestern states and Canada who come to escape the northern winter weather between roughly November and March. Many live in trailer or recreational vehicle parks.
There were 19,021 households out of which 38.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.6% were married couples living together, 16.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 24.5% were non-families. 20.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.94 and the average family size was 3.44.
In the city the population was spread out with 30.7% under the age of 18, 9.6% from 18 to 24, 26.5% from 25 to 44, 18.0% from 45 to 64, and 15.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 32 years. For every 100 females there were 90.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 85.0 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $30,296, and the median income for a family was $34,015. Males had a median income of $27,014 versus $21,795 for females. The per capita income for the city was $13,886. About 19.3% of families and 24.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 34.7% of those under age 18 and 16.2% of those age 65 or over.
Health Care
Harlingen Medical Center is the advanced general acute care hospital in Harlingen. HMC specializes in advanced cardiovascular care, orthopedics, neurology, obstetrics and gynecology. The state of the art facility opened in 2003 and boasts over 100 beds, all private rooms. Harlingen Medical Center provides some of the most advanced and up to date medical care in the Rio Grande Valley.Valley Baptist Health System was founded in 1925. It is a not-for-profit hospital which also serves as a trauma center. In 2004, Valley Baptist acquired Brownsville Medical Center and renamed it Valley Baptist Medical Center - Brownsville. VBMC also operates a country club, a restaurant, and an exercise facility.
Valley Diagnostic Clinic is a large outpatient facility with both primary care physicians and specialists in fields such as cardiology, gastroenterology, neurology, etc.
The Regional Academic Health Center (RAHC) is a teaching hospital that serves as an extension campus of the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio.
Su Clinica Familiar offers services tailored to the border region, concentrating in the areas of dentistry, internal medicine, women’s health and pediatrics. Services are mostly tailored for the poor. It has a teaching partnership with the nearby Regional Academic Health Center.
In addition there are various smaller clinics, group and individual practices in the city.
Valley AirCare, Inc. provides emergency medical and critical patient transport helicopter service within 150 miles of its Harlingen base and fixed-wing service throughout North America.
Sports
Harlingen was home of the Rio Grande Valley White Wings, a Central Baseball League Minor league baseball team. The city lost the team in 2003, however, after the formation of United Baseball League in 2005, the team was reinstated.External links
- [City of Harlingen]
- [Harlingen Area Chamber of Commerce]
- [Valley International Airport]
- [Harlingen Consolidated Independent School District]
- [The Texas Air Museum]
- [Calvary Christian School]
- [Port of Harlingen]
- [Altas Palmas Animal Clinic]
- [Valley Morning Star]
- [KGBT-4 TV]
- [KRGV TV]
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