FALCON STATE PARK. Falcon State Park is on the southeastern shore of International Falcon Reservoir,^qv fifteen miles northwest of Rio Grande City in Starr and Zapata counties. It is accessible via U.S. Highway 83, Farm Road 2098, and Park Road 46. Falcon Dam, which impounds the sixty-mile-long reservoir, was dedicated by Mexican president Adolfo Ruiz Cortines and United States president Dwight D. Eisenhower^qv in October 1953. The dam was built for conservation, irrigation, power, flood-control, and recreation purposes. The park was leased from the International Boundary and Water Commission^qv in 1954 and opened to the public on May 16, 1965. Camping, picnicking, waterskiing, swimming, bird-watching, and fishing facilities are provided in the 572-acre park. A 3,000-foot lighted airstrip is also available there. Nearby points of interest are Nuevo Guerrero and Ciudad Mier in Mexico and Fort Ringgold in Rio Grande City. The surrounding terrain consists of gently rolling hills on which grow mesquite, huisache, ebony, wild olive, cactus, and native grasses.

BIBLIOGRAPHY: Vertical Files, Barker Texas History Center, University of Texas at Austin.

Alicia A. Garza