Churches and Architecture
Laredo’s architecture is of Spanish Colonial, American, and Mexican flavor. Most of Laredo's Spanish colonial buildings are located in downtown Laredo. American architecture can be seen along Interstate Highway 35 and in the downtown area.
Heavily Roman Catholic in church affiliation, Laredo has impressive houses of worship in multiple denominations. The oldest congregation, San Agustin Cathedral in the downtown historic plaza, dates to the founding of the city in 1755. Other Catholic congregations included Our Lady of Guadalupe, an imposing structure in the inner-city at San Jorge Avenue and Callaghan Street, Blessed Sacrament and Christ the King, both in the Heights neighborhood, St. John Neumann Church at Hillside Road and Springfield Avenue, San Martin de Porres at 1704 Sandman Street near the municipal water tower, and the large St. Patrick Catholic Church on Del Mar Boulevard, founded in 1970 and renovated in 2009. The Catholic diocese office, the headquarters of Bishop James Tamayo, is located on Corpus Christi Street north of Guadalupe Street. Still another Catholic congregation, the Church of the Redeemer at the intersection of Main and Garcia streets downtown, observed its centennial on August 29, 2009. San Luis Rey Catholic Church at the intersection of Sanders and San Jose opened on September 16, 1951. Outside is a flowered prayer shrine.
The homeless and other indigent are served downtown through the Roman Catholic-established Bethany House, founded in 1982 by Roman Catholic priest Fr. Charles M. McNaboe (1929–1996).
Other Laredo churches include Baptist, United Methodist, Episcopalian, Presbyterian, Assembly of God, Mormon, and non-denominational congregations as well.
List of the tallest buildings in Laredo, Texas:
| Rank | Building Name | Height | Floors | Year Built |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Hamilton Hotel | 150 ft (46 m) | 12 | 1923 |
| 02 | San Agustin Cathedral | 141 ft (43 m) | N/A | 1872 |
| 03 | Rio Grande Plaza | – | 15 | 1975 |
| 04 | Holiday Inn Laredo | – | 14 | 1984 |
| 05 | Laredo National Bank | – | 10 | 1926 |
| 06 | Senior Citizens Home | – | 8 | – |
| 07 | Laredo Medical Center | – | 7 | – |
| 08 | Gateway Inn | – | 6 | – |
| 09 | Rialto Hotel | – | 6 | 1925 |
| 10 | Walker Plaza | – | 5 | 1995 |
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Famous quotes containing the words churches and, churches and/or architecture:
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Summer is changed to winter, the young grow old
The air is full of children, statues, roofs
And snow. The theatre is spinning round,
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The most massive sopranos are singing songs of scales.”
—Wallace Stevens (1879–1955)
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I hadn’t thought of them as Christmas trees.”
—Robert Frost (1874–1963)
“Art is a jealous mistress, and if a man have a genius for painting, poetry, music, architecture or philosophy, he makes a bad husband and an ill provider, and should be wise in season and not fetter himself with duties which will embitter his days and spoil him for his proper work.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)