Texas House District 42 is located entirely within Webb County and encompasses a large portion of the City of Laredo, our nation’s second fastest growing city and a busy international port of entry. With four international bridges, Laredo is the U.S./Mexico border city most strategically positioned at the convergence of land transportation systems.

Mexico’s principal highway and railroad run from Central America through Mexico City, Saltillo and Monterrey - the industrial heart of Mexico - converging at Laredo to meet two major U.S. rail lines, Interstate 35 and other roads which fan outwards to the urban centers and seaports of Texas and beyond to northern states and Canadian provinces including Illinois, Michigan, New York and Ontario.

Laredo was founded on the north bank of the Río Grande on May 15, 1755, when Captain Tomás Sánchez, with three families, was granted permission to settle 15 leagues of land near an Indian fort on the Río Grande.

Operated as a family rancho, the Sánchez estate ran cattle, sheep, goats, horses, mules and oxen. In 1767, the city was laid out, and in the years to follow, ranching became the sustenance of the colony.

Known today as the city under seven flags, Laredo has emerged as the principal port of entry into Mexico . As the second fastest growing city in the nation, this border metropolis has greatly benefited from the well-planned, historic "Streets of Laredo," and its urban core continues to be reinvigorated as commercial areas and neighborhoods make the " Gateway City " their home.