Port of Brownsville, Deepwater seaport in Brownsville, Texas, United States

The Port of Brownsville is a deepwater port on the Texas Gulf coast, connected to the Gulf of Mexico through a man-made channel that allows large ocean-going vessels to reach the docks. It operates several cargo terminals designed to handle different types of freight, from bulk materials to heavy equipment.

The port opened in 1936 after the access channel was dug to allow ocean ships to reach the area for the first time. Long before that, Spanish sailors had used the site as a natural anchorage as far back as the 1500s.

The port's largest cargo category is wind turbine components imported from abroad, shipped onward by road and rail as far as Alberta, Canada. Rail links also carry goods into northeast Mexico, including Monterrey, Nuevo León. The channel passes the old harbor of Los Brazos de Santiago, where Alonso Álvarez de Pineda landed in 1519.

The port is located in the southern part of Brownsville and is straightforward to reach from the city center. The area along the channel offers good views of passing ships, but active work zones are closed to the general public.

The port authority holds more land than any other public port in the country, with much of that territory extending well beyond the docks and warehouses. Some of that land is now used for energy projects, including facilities that handle liquefied natural gas.