Editing Laredo, Texas (section)

==History==
{{see also|Timeline of Laredo, Texas}}
[[File:Old map-Laredo-1892.jpg|thumb|250px|Map of Laredo in 1892]]
[[File:Laredo, TX, Center for the Arts IMG 7674.JPG|200px|right|thumb|Laredo Center for the Arts in the downtown square]]
[[File:Plaza Theater, downtown Laredo, TX IMG 7673.JPG|200px|right|thumb|Though the facility has been closed since 1999, the marquee of the Plaza Theater in downtown Laredo has been renovated. A citizens committee sought without success to establish a [[private–public partnership]] to reopen the Plaza as a live-entertainment venue.<ref>"Aldo Amato, "Plaza Theater: Future Glory Eyed: Investors willing to give it another try", ''Laredo Morning Times'', April 9, 2014, p. 1</ref> In 2018, the city council sought private entities, nonprofit organizations, and an architect to make the facility useful again.]]
 
The Spanish colonial settlement of Villa de San Agustín de Laredo was founded in 1755 by [[Tomás Sánchez (captain)|Don Tomás Sánchez de la Barrera]], while the area was part of the [[Nuevo Santander]] region in the Spanish viceroyalty of [[New Spain]]. Villa de San Agustín de Laredo was named after [[Laredo, Cantabria]], Spain and in honor of Saint [[Augustine of Hippo]]. In 1840, Laredo was the capital of the independent [[Republic of the Rio Grande]], set up in opposition to [[Antonio López de Santa Anna]]; it was brought back into Mexico by military force.{{citation needed|date=December 2019}}

In 1846 during the [[Mexican–American War]], the town was occupied by the [[Texas Ranger Division|Texas Rangers]]. After the war, the [[Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo]] ceded the land to the United States. A referendum was taken in the town, which voted to petition the American military government in charge of the area to return the town to Mexico. When this petition was rejected, many who had been in the area for generations, moved across the river into Mexican territory, where they founded [[Nuevo Laredo]]. Many others, especially original land grantees on the north side of the Rio Grande remained, becoming Texans in the process. In 1849, the United States Army set up [[Fort McIntosh (Texas)|Fort McIntosh]] (originally Camp Crawford). Laredo was rechartered as a city in 1852.

Laredo is one of the oldest [[border crossing|crossing]] points along the Mexico–United States border, and the nation's largest inland port of entry. In 2005, Laredo celebrated the 250th anniversary of its founding.

The etymology of the name for the Spanish town of Laredo is unclear. Some scholars say the name stems from ''[[glaretum]]'', which means "sandy, rocky place". Others state Laredo stems from a [[Basque language|Basque]] word meaning "beautiful pastures".<ref>[http://nuevolaredo.usconsulate.gov/nuevolaredo/Nuevo_Laredo_History.html Laredo Origin] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070803193151/http://nuevolaredo.usconsulate.gov/nuevolaredo/Nuevo_Laredo_History.html |date=August 3, 2007 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.e-local.gob.mx/wb2/ELOCAL/EMM_tamaulipas|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110517163702/http://www.e-local.gob.mx/wb2/ELOCAL/EMM_tamaulipas|url-status=dead|title=Laredo Origin|archive-date=May 17, 2011}}</ref> Laredo might also stem from the [[Latin]] ''[[Laridae|larida]]'', which means [[gull]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.lmtonline.com/local/article/Operator-needed-for-historic-Plaza-Theater-after-13184906.php|title=Operator needed for historic Plaza Theater after unanimous vote by the Laredo City Council|author=Julia Wallace|newspaper=Laredo Morning Times|date=August 27, 2018|access-date=August 30, 2018}}</ref>

Cellist [[Yo-Yo Ma]] brought his [[Inspired by Bach|Bach Project]] to the Juarez–Lincoln International Bridge in April 2019.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.npr.org/2019/04/13/713092703/cellist-yo-yo-ma-plays-bach-in-shadow-of-border-crossing|title=Cellist Yo-Yo Ma Plays Bach in Shadow of Border Crossing|last1=Martinez|first1=Norma|last2=Terrazas|first2=Lauren|date=April 13, 2019|website=NPR News|access-date=April 14, 2019|last3=Morgan|first3=Jack}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.cnn.com/2019/04/14/us/yo-yo-ma-us-mexico-border-trnd/index.html |title=Cellist Yo-Yo Ma plays a concert at a US-Mexico border crossing to make a point|last=Jackson|first=Amanda|date=April 14, 2019 |publisher=CNN|access-date=April 16, 2019}}</ref>