Falcon Heights

Falcon Heights is near the dam that impounds International Falcon Reservoir on Farm Road 2098, three miles from U.S. Highway 83 in southwestern Starr County. It was founded in 1954 when Falcon Dam was completed, at the site of an active Catholic mission church, Holy Trinity. In 1990 the community had a post office, a population of 361, two motels, three trailer parks, a lumberyard, an automatic telephone center, a bar, a water company, and a Baptist church. In 2000 the population was 335. The seventy-five-acre Starr County Recreation Park provided camping and picnicking facilities. Nearby Falcon State Park offers fishing, boating, swimming, and camping. The predominantly Spanish-speaking residents, many of them descendants of settlers who came to the area nearly 300 years ago, provide services for tourists. More than 1,000 bird-watchers come every year to see the ferruginous pygmy owl, the brown jay, Audubon's oriole, and other birds.