Boca Chica Village
| Boca Chica Village | |
|---|---|
| Unincorporated community | |
 | |
| Coordinates: 25°59′29″N 97°11′1″W / 25.99139°N 97.18361°WCoordinates: 25°59′29″N 97°11′1″W / 25.99139°N 97.18361°W | |
| Country |
 United States of America |
| State |
 Texas |
| County | Cameron |
| Kennedy Shores | 1967 |
| Kopernik Shores | 1975 |
| Elevation | 1 m (3 [1] ft) |
| Population (2000) | |
| • Total | 26 |
| Time zone | CST (UTC-6) |
| • Summer (DST) | CDT (UTC-5) |
Boca Chica Village, formerly Kennedy Shores and later Kopernik Shores, is a small unincorporated community in Cameron County, Texas, United States. It 20 miles east of the City of Brownsville, Texas, and forms part of the Brownsville–Harlingen–Raymondville and the Matamoros–Brownsville metropolitan areas. It is situated on Texas State Highway 4, immediately south of the South Bay lagoon, and is a two miles northwest of the mouth of the Rio Grande.
The village rose to prominence due to it being the favored location for the construction of the SpaceX private launch site.
History
The town was founded as Kennedy Shores in 1967 by John Caputa, a Chicagoan property developer, and was initially aimed at working class Polish migrants.[2] Shortly after building a community of 32 ranch-style houses, the settlement was devastated by Hurricane Beulah later that year, which destroyed the restaurant and public utility systems. Electricity was restored, but many of the homes did not have potable water even decades later.
In 1975, local resident Stanley Piotrowicz was voted in as town mayor, who renamed the village Kopernik Shores after Nicolaus Copernicus, and attempted to have the village recognised as an incorporated community, but this was denied. In 1990 and 2000, the population was 26 people.
As of 2008, only 6 people were permanently living in the village,[3] which is now little more than a colonia.[citation needed]
In 2012, Californian space exploration company SpaceX named Boca Chica as a possible location for the construction of their commercial launch site, and has since become the competition leader, potentially bringing in $80 million of investment to the area.[4][5]
See also
References
- ↑ "Kopernik Shores Populated Place Profile / Cameron County, Texas Data". Texas.hometownlocator.com. Retrieved 2014-02-06.
- ↑ "KOPERNIK SHORES, TX | The Handbook of Texas Online| Texas State Historical Association (TSHA)". Tshaonline.org. Retrieved 2014-02-06.
- ↑ "Boca Chica Village, formerly Kopernik Shores, Texas". Texasescapes.com. 2008-02-09. Retrieved 2014-02-06.
- ↑ Tony Freemantle (2012-12-04). "South Texas NIMBYs oppose spaceport". SFGate. Retrieved 2014-02-06.
- ↑ "SpaceX buys more land in Cameron County - Valley Morning Star : Local News". Valley Morning Star. 2013-11-23. Retrieved 2014-02-06.