Falfurrias, Texas
City in the United States in Brooks County
About Falfurrias
Falfurrias ( fal-FURE-ee-əss) is a city in and the county seat of Brooks County, Texas, United States. Its population was 4,609 at the 2020 census, in a county that in the same census was just over 7,000. The town is named for founder Edward Cunningham Lasater's ranch, La Mota de Falfurrias. In 1893, the Falfurrias ranch was one of the largest in Texas at some 350,000 acres (140,000 ha).
The biggest industry in Falfurrias is the United States Border Patrol interior checkpoint south of the city on U.S. Route 281. As an indirect consequence, many migrants seeking to bypass the checkpoint by setting off across the arid land die of exposure and dehydration.
Falfurrias and Brooks County were featured in a 2014 Latino USA radio story on illegal immigration in South Texas. The 2021 movie Missing in Brooks County deals with the same topic.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
How Falfurrias is governed
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0 of 14 positions listed. Gray dashed boxes are placeholders waiting for a name.
Residents of Falfurrias
Registered voters elect the officials below.
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Mayor
Executive
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The city's chief elected official. Presides over the executive branch, proposes the budget and represents the city.
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City Manager / Administrator
Executive
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The professional administrator who runs day-to-day operations (in some cities appointed by the council instead of the mayor).
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Police Chief
Administration & departments
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Leads the police department.
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Fire Chief
Administration & departments
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Leads the fire and emergency services department.
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Public Works Director
Administration & departments
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Streets, water, sewer, and city buildings.
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Finance Director
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The budget, taxes, and city accounts.
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Planning & Zoning Director
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Land use, zoning, building permits.
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Parks & Recreation Director
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Parks, programs, and public facilities.
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City Council
Legislative
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The elected body that passes ordinances, sets the tax rate and approves the budget.
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City Clerk
Administration & departments
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Keeps the official records, runs meeting agendas and, often, local elections.
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City Attorney
Administration & departments
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The city's lawyer; advises officials and prosecutes ordinance violations.
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Boards & Commissions
Legislative
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Citizen advisory bodies, such as planning, zoning appeals and library boards.
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Municipal Court
Judicial
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Hears traffic, ordinance and other minor cases.
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Municipal Judge
Judicial
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Presides over the municipal court.
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- Website
- ci.falfurrias.tx.us
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Population over time
From 4,981 in 2010 to 4,609 in 2020 (−7.5%).
Show the numbers
| Year | Population |
|---|---|
| 2020 | 4,609 |
| 2010 | 4,981 |
History
Falfurrias' founding and development were largely due to the efforts of Edward Cunningham Lasater, a pioneer Rio Grande Valley rancher and developer. In 1895, he started a cattle ranch in what was then northern Starr County. At one point, it was one of the largest ranches in Texas. With the extension of the San Antonio and Aransas Pass Railway south from Alice to his ranch in 1904, Lasater founded the town of Falfurrias and subdivided a sizable portion of his ranch land for sale to farmers. In 1898, a post office opened in the community. A local newspaper began publication in 1906. Lasater brought in his Jersey cows and established a creamery in 1909. Sweet-cream butter and other products from Edward Lasater's creamery company made the town a familiar name across the state. That butter, though, is no longer made from milk produced in Falfurrias. Don Pedro Jaramillo, a Mexican-born curandero known as the "Healer of Los Olmos", was buried in Falfurrias in 1907 and is venerated at a shrine there.
The state granted a petition by local residents to form a new county, Brooks, with Falfurrias as its county seat in 1911. Irrigation methods introduced to the area in the 1920s brought in truck farming and the citrus fruit industry. The city became a primary trade and shipping center for the surrounding region. The area received another economic boost in the 1930s and 1940s when extensive oil and gas reserves were discovered around Falfurrias.
The city had a population of 6,712 in 1950, which declined throughout the latter half of the 20th century; 5,297 people were living in Falfurrias in 2000, 4,981 in 2010, and 4,609 in 2020.
The U.S. Customs and Border Protection opened a station in Falfurrias in 1940; the present border checkpoint south of the city opened in 1994. It was renovated and enlarged in 2019, adding new cameras and X-ray machines. According to an NPR report, the station has been increasingly busy due to a surge of migrants coming from Central America. So many migrants die trying to hike around the checkpoint that there have been calls for it to be closed or moved.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.