Progreso: The Bridge That Moved a River
Near Mcallen, Texas
The border crossing at Progreso exists because the Rio Grande was once rerouted. In July nineteen six, an irrigation company dug a shortcut through an S-curve in the river, and about four hundred thirteen acres that had been north of the river, including a community called Rio Rico, suddenly found themselves on the Mexican side of the international boundary. A suspension bridge was built from the Texas community of Thayer to Rio Rico in nineteen twenty-eight, but the nineteen forty-one flood washed it out.
The current Progreso International Bridge opened in nineteen fifty-two, connecting Progreso to Nuevo Progreso in Tamaulipas, and quickly became a gateway for citrus trade and cross-border tourism. The town took its name from a post office called Progreso, established in nineteen oh one.
