San Diego, TX

San Diego is Duval County's seat, a South Texas city that crosses the Duval-Jim Wells county line. The 2020 census counted 3,748 residents. San Diego Creek and the old Texas-Mexican Railway helped set the town's location, while State Highways 44 and 359 and Farm Road 1329 now carry the road traffic across the county. The city sits between Alice, Freer, Corpus Christi, and Laredo, with the county courthouse giving it a civic role beyond its size.

The older story starts with water: springs feeding San Diego Creek were a stopping point for travelers between Goliad and Mier before the town existed. That crossing of Mexican, Spanish, and South Texas histories still hangs over the place. San Diego Independent School District serves the city, and the high school Vaqueros give the town a team name with a strong regional accent. San Diego is a county-seat town with a borderland memory - part courthouse town, part ranch-road crossroads, part South Texas school town.