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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—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“He asked if I would sell my Christmas trees;
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“Polarized light showed the secret architecture of bodies; and when the second-sight of the mind is opened, now one color or form or gesture, and now another, has a pungency, as if a more interior ray had been emitted, disclosing its deep holdings in the frame of things.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)