On February 4, 1846, President James K. Polk instructed American General Zachary Taylor and his troops, including 2nd LT. Ulysses S. Grant, to begin moving south towards Brownsville.

[28][29] Robert E. Lee and his Confederate army surrendered to Union commander Ulysses S. Grant on April 9, 1865, signing a hand-written document at the Appomattox Court House, officially ending the American Civil War.

[32] President Grant sent Union General Frederick Steele to Brownsville to patrol the United States–Mexico border after the Civil War to aid the Juaristas with military supplies.

[33][34][35] Texas, like other Southern states, passed a new constitution and Jim Crow laws that established racial segregation and disenfranchised African Americans at the turn of the 20th century, generally by raising barriers to voter registration.

While Hispanic residents were considered white under the terms of the United States annexation of Texas, legislatures found ways to suppress their participation in politics.

Without affording them a chance to defend themselves in a hearing, President Theodore Roosevelt dishonorably discharged the entire 167-member regiment due to their alleged "conspiracy of silence".

Additionally, it was discovered that other neural tube defects, including spina bifida and encephalocele, had been an ongoing, undetected issue in pregnant Mexican-American women for years in the area.

[42] In 2008, the United States Department of Homeland Security issued a proposal to add 70 mi (110 km) of border fence, an action which would potentially reallocate portions of the University of Texas at Brownsville campus.

Trump's proposed wall, if completed, would consist of 2,000 mi (3,200 km) "of hardened concrete, and ... rebar, and steel" across the southern border, including Brownsville.

Brownsville was also the center of controversy surrounding the new administration's continuation of an Obama-era policy of housing immigrant children separate from adults (except for mothers) who entered the country unlawfully.

The issue surrounded Casa Padre, the largest juvenile immigration detention center in America, which is located within Brownsville's city limits.

Its idiosyncratic network of resacas (English: oxbow lakes), distributaries of the Rio Grande, provide habitat for numerous nesting and breeding birds, typically during the spring and fall migrations.

[67] Citharexylum berlandieri (Tamaulipan fiddlewood),[65] Rivina humilis (pigeonberry), and Leucophyllum frutescens (Texas sage) are also native flora.

[69] Several parts of the city have a high risk of localized flooding because of flat topography, ubiquitous low-permeability clay soils, and inadequate infrastructure funding.

[71] The majority of the city's soil is made of floodplain deposits from the Rio Grande; it consists of clay, sand, silt, gravel, and organic matter.

Due to its proximity to the deserts of Chihuahua and Gulf Coastal Plains, Brownsville's geographic location lies near the boundary of a hot semi-arid climate.

The port, located 2 mi (3.2 km) from the city, provides a link between the road networks of nearby Mexico and the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway of Texas.

[111] The port has become an important economic hub for South Texas, where shipments arrive from other parts of the United States, Mexico, and other foreign countries.

Due to Matamoros' maquiladora (English: textile factory) boom, Brownsville experienced growth in the air cargo industry during the late 1980s.

[121] Entrepreneur and innovator Elon Musk announced the construction of the SpaceX South Texas launch site (now Starbase), a spaceport for private spaceflight east of Brownsville, on the Gulf Coast, in 2014.

The facility is intended to provide students and faculty access to radio frequency technologies used in spaceflight operations, and will include satellite and spacecraft tracking.

[126] BEDC purchased five lots in Boca Chica Village, totaling 2.3 acres (0.93 ha) near the SpaceX launch site, and renamed it as the "Stargate" subdivision.

Located in northeast Cameron County, Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge protects several endangered species, including the Texas ocelot (Leopardus pardalis albescens), a rare wild cat, and the Aplomado falcon (Falco femoralis).

[152] Other federal building located within the city limits of Brownsville include: Social Security Administration and the Reynaldo G. Garza – Filemon B. Vela United States Courthouse.

There are seven high schools within the district: Homer Hanna, Gladys Porter, James Pace, Simon Rivera, Lopez, BECHS, and Veterans Memorial.

The introduction of the rail link to Brownsville opened the area for settlement by northern farmers, who subsequently arrived in the lower Rio Grande Valley in large numbers.

Inspired by Bessie Kirkland Johnson, the museum was opened in 1997 featuring clothing from indigenous people in several Mexican states and other Latin American countries.

[204] Las Ramblas Cocktail Lounge is a prominent fixture in historic downtown Brownsville, Texas, celebrated for its innovative mixology and vibrant atmosphere.

As of 2024, it has garnered national attention by making the James Beard Award finals for two consecutive years—a testament to its outstanding hospitality and creative cocktail program.

In 2020 Vera’s Backyard Bar-B-Que in Brownsville, Texas, was honored with the James Beard Foundation’s America’s Classics Award, recognizing its dedication to preserving the traditional method of pit-smoked barbacoa.