Del Rio

Town and administrative headquarters of Val Verde County, southwest Texas; population (2000) 33,900. It is located on the Rio Grande opposite Ciudad Acuña (Coahuila), Mexico, 236 km/145 mi west of San Antonio. It is a port of entry and the market centre for a ranching area producing wool, mohair, and lamb. To the east is Laughlin Air Force Base, and the Amistad Reservoir and National Recreation Area are to the northwest. Del Rio was famous in the 1930s as the home of XERA, the best-known of the powerful ‘border’ radio stations that broadcast from transmitters in Mexico.

The name derives from a Spanish mission, San Felipe del Rio, which was established here in c. 1675. The present community dates from 1868, when San Felipe Springs was used to irrigate farms.