Victoria, Texas, United States

Economy | History | Geography | Arts and culture | Recreation | Sport | Media : Press | Points of interest | Transport

🇺🇸 Victoria is the largest city and county seat of Victoria County, Texas. The Victoria Metropolitan Statistical Area is formed of three counties. Victoria is located 30 miles inland from the Gulf of Mexico. Victoria is a two-hour drive from Corpus Christi, Houston, San Antonio, and Austin. Victoria is named for General Guadalupe Victoria, who became the first president of independent Mexico. Victoria is the cathedral city of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Victoria in Texas.

Economy Victoria's economy is a mix of education, health, retail, agriculture, and industry. Its access to major highways, the Victoria Regional Airport, railway terminals, the shallow draft Port of Victoria, and the deep water Port of Port Lavaca-Point Comfort help to sustain a healthy environment for business. Major industrial employers in the region include Formosa Plastics Corp, Inteplast Group, Dow, Invista, Caterpillar and Alcoa.

History The city of Guadalupe Victoria was founded in 1824 by Martín De León, a Mexican empresario, in honor of Guadalupe Victoria, the first President of the Republic of Mexico. Victoria was initially part of De León's Colony, which had been founded that same year. By 1834, the town had a population of approximately 300.

During the Texas Revolution, Guadalupe Victoria contributed soldiers and supplies to pro-revolutionary forces. However, after James Fannin was defeated by the Mexican army at the Battle of Coleto, the town was occupied by Mexican forces. After Santa Anna was defeated at the Battle of San Jacinto, the town's Mexican residents were driven out by Anglo settlers, who renamed it Victoria.

In 1840, a Comanche raid on nearby Linnville killed many residents of the town. A cholera outbreak occurred in 1846.

During the mid-19th century, the city developed a large population of European immigrants, particularly Germans. By the turn of the 20th century, Victoria was experiencing rapid population growth thanks to its position as a regional trade center. The city's advantageous proximity to Gulf Coast ports, the larger cities of San Antonio, Austin, and Corpus Christi, and prosperous industries in agriculture and petrochemicals solidified its prominence.

The University of Houston–Victoria was founded in 1971 and remains there today.

Geography Victoria is located on the coastal plains of Texas about 50 mi (80 km) from the Gulf of Mexico and 20 mi (32 km) from the nearest bay waters. It lies along and just to the east of the Guadalupe River. The topography is mostly flat to slightly rolling with an average elevation of 95 ft (29 m). Most of the city is underlain by smectite-rich clay which is locally capped by silt or fine sand; the high shrink-swell potential associated with smectite creates major challenges to urban infrastructure. Vegetation in better-drained areas consists primarily of short grasses with post oaks and other small timber and brush. Moist sites can grow tall forests dominated by elm and pecan.

Arts and culture Victoria has many performing arts and theatre events and venues. Theatre Victoria offers six productions in a season that runs from July to May. Performances are held in the newly renovated Leo J. Welder Center, a fully equipped, modern performing space located downtown. The Victoria Symphony Orchestra and Victoria Ballet provide several performances each year.

For a week each June, the Victoria Bach Festival welcomes musicians from across the country to fill theatres, churches, and outdoor spaces with engaging musical performances.

Several museums are located in Victoria. They include the McNamara House (a social history museum), the Nave (art), the Children's Discovery Museum, and the Museum of the Coastal Bend (MCB). The MCB showcases the rich multicultural heritage of the region, and includes prominent displays of artifacts found from La Salle's colony in the late 17th century.

The Victoria Art League is home to many local artists and is located in one of the Texas Registered Historical Landmark buildings at 905 S. Bridge Street. The building was built in 1898 and has been the home of the Victoria Art League since 1999. The Victoria Art League is the only visual arts organization in Victoria.

Presidio La Bahia and Mission Espiritu Santo are located a short 30-minute drive from Victoria. La Bahia is the best-preserved Spanish presidio in the United States, and Espiritu Santo is an excellent example of an early Spanish colonial church and mission.

Recreation Victoria's 562-acre (2.27-km²) Riverside Park is home to the Texas Zoo, which houses more than 200 species of animals and plants indigenous to Texas, exhibiting them in their natural habitats. The park is also home to more than 15 baseball fields which are occupied during the spring and summer by teams from the Victoria Metro region. Also in Riverside Park on the Guadalupe River is the Victoria Paddling trail. This 4.2-mile stretch of the Guadalupe River is bordered by soft banks rather than the limestone bluffs of the Hill Country.

Boating and freshwater fishing are available at two area reservoirs, Lake Texana and Coleto Lake. Many residents also take advantage of the nearby Gulf of Mexico. Port O'Connor, 50 miles to the south-east, is renowned for bay, off-shore and wade fishing.

Three golf courses are located in Victoria: the Victoria Country Club, Riverside Golf Course, and Colony Creek Country Club.

The major shopping centre is Victoria Mall.

Sport The UHV Jaguars compete in baseball, softball, soccer, and golf as a member of the Red River Athletic Conference in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) Division I.

The Victoria Generals compete in the Texas Collegiate League, a summer baseball league. The Generals won the 2010 TCL championship.

Media: Press The daily newspaper is The Victoria Advocate. Additionally, the University of Houston–Victoria publishes The Flame.

Points of interest DeLeon Plaza and Bandstand, originally known as 'Plaza de la Constitucion', was one of four public squares set aside by colony founder Martin de Leon. The plaza is filled with local monuments and memorials, shade trees, a bandstand built in 1890, and information about the six flags over Texas.

The Victoria County Courthouse, located at Bridge and Constitution Streets, was built in 1892 in Romanesque architecture by James R. Gordan in the style of Henry Richardson. The structure is made of Texas granite and Indiana limestone.

Fossati's Delicatessen is located in downtown Victoria, it was opened in 1882 by Italian immigrant Fraschio ("Frank") Napoleon Fossati. After 125 years, Fossati's is still owned and operated by the same family.

Downtown Victoria has the second-oldest Roman Catholic Church in Texas and first to be canonically established in the Republic of Texas, St. Mary's Church.

The Islamic Center of Victoria is a mosque in Victoria. It was burned down on January 28, 2017. By January 31, more than $950,000 had been raised to rebuild it. In June, 2017, a Texas man, named Marq Vincent Perez, was indicted on federal hate crime charges for the arson attack on the Islamic Center and mosque.

Transport Victoria is located at the intersection of three major U.S. highways: • US Highway 59 (I-69 and I-69W) is a four-lane divided, interstate-quality highway extending south-west to Laredo and north-east to Houston, where it meets Interstate 10 and Interstate 45. It is also known as the Lloyd M. Bentsen Highway. US 59 is planned to be included within the future Interstate 69 from Victoria to Tenaha (once fully completed the mainline of Interstate 69 will travel from Brownsville, Texas to Port Huron, Michigan). US 59 is planned to be included within the future Interstate 69W from Victoria to Laredo. • US Highway 77 (I-69E) travels north from Victoria to the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, intersecting Interstate 10, Interstate 35 and Interstate 37. US 77 travels south via a four-lane divided highway to the Rio Grande Valley. US 77 is planned to be included within the future Interstate 69E from Victoria to Brownsville. • US Highway 87 travels north-west connecting Victoria to San Antonio, providing access to Interstate 35. US 87 also connects with Port Lavaca to the southeast. • US 59

Future I-69 / Future I-69W • US 77

◦ Future I-69E • US 87 • SH 185

Victoria is a regional transportation hub for the surrounding counties, with local access to major large and small freight carriers, Victoria Regional Airport, railway terminals, the shallow draft Port of Victoria and the deep water Port of Port Lavaca – Point Comfort.

In 2002, Victoria Transit began operation of a citywide transportation system. It currently offers bus service on four fixed routes consisting of 70 stops.

Victoria, Texas, United States 
<b>Victoria, Texas, United States</b>
Image: Jim Evans

Victoria has a population of over 62,592 people. Victoria also forms one of the centres of the wider Victoria-Port Lavaca metropolitan area which has a population of over 111,163 people.

To set up a UBI Lab for Victoria see: https://www.ubilabnetwork.org Twitter: https://twitter.com/UBILabNetwork

Twin Towns - Sister Cities Victoria has links with:

🇪🇸 Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain
Text Atribution: Wikipedia Text under CC-BY-SA license

Antipodal to Victoria is: 82.996,-28.806

Locations Near: Victoria -97.0036,28.8059

🇺🇸 Corpus Christi -97.404,27.796 d: 118.9  

🇺🇸 Seguin -97.95,29.567 d: 124.9  

🇺🇸 Bastrop -97.3,30.1 d: 146.7  

🇺🇸 New Braunfels -98.111,29.694 d: 146  

🇺🇸 San Marcos -97.945,29.877 d: 150  

🇺🇸 Richmond -95.75,29.567 d: 148.2  

🇺🇸 Sugar Land -95.615,29.599 d: 161.1  

🇺🇸 San Antonio -98.483,29.417 d: 159  

🇺🇸 Angleton -95.417,29.15 d: 159  

🇺🇸 Austin -97.741,30.275 d: 178.2  

Antipodal to: Victoria 82.996,-28.806

🇲🇺 Mahébourg 57.7,-20.407 d: 17299.5  

🇲🇺 Centre de Flacq 57.718,-20.2 d: 17291.3  

🇲🇺 Rivière du Rempart 57.633,-20.05 d: 17276.1  

🇲🇺 Curepipe 57.517,-20.317 d: 17277.9  

🇲🇺 Vacoas-Phoenix 57.493,-20.3 d: 17274.9  

🇲🇺 St Pierre 57.517,-20.217 d: 17273.2  

🇲🇺 Moka 57.496,-20.219 d: 17271.3  

🇲🇺 Quatre Bornes 57.479,-20.266 d: 17271.9  

🇲🇺 Mauritius 57.499,-20.162 d: 17268.9  

🇲🇺 Port-Louis 57.496,-20.165 d: 17268.8  

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