Shelby Park is located on of parkland on the banks of the

Rio Grande River The Rio Grande ( or ) in the United States or the Río Bravo (del Norte) in Mexico (), also known as Tó Ba'áadi in Navajo, is one of the principal rivers (along with the Colorado River) in the Southwestern United States and in northern Me ...

in downtown

Eagle Pass, Texas Eagle Pass is a city in and the county seat of Maverick County, Texas, United States. Its population was 28,130 as of the 2020 census. Eagle Pass borders the city of Piedras Negras, Coahuila, Mexico, which is to the southwest and across the ...

, U.S. The park is owned and maintained by the City of Eagle Pass. It was created using

Federal Emergency Management Agency The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is an agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS), initially created under President Jimmy Carter by Presidential Reorganization Plan No. 3 of 1978 and implemented by two Exec ...

(FEMA) funds after the area was cleared of homes and businesses following major flooding in 1998 and named for Confederate General Joseph O. Shelby, who fled to Mexico through Eagle Pass in 1865. The park is adjacent to the

Eagle Pass–Piedras Negras International Bridge The Eagle Pass–Piedras Negras International Bridge is an international bridge that crosses the Rio Grande and connects the United States-Mexico border cities of Eagle Pass, Texas, and Piedras Negras, Coahuila Piedras Negras ( ) is a city an ...

. It consists of two ball fields, two soccer fields, a boat ramp, and parking. Between December 2023 and January 2024, the Eagle Pass Border Coalition used it to erect a memorial consisting of 700 crosses honoring the more than 700 migrants who died on the U.S.–Mexico border in 2023. In January 2024, it was seized by the Texas National Guard as part of

Operation Lone Star Operation Lone Star (OLS) is a joint operation between the Texas Department of Public Safety and the Texas Military Department along the Mexico–United States border in southern Texas. The operation started in 2021 and is ongoing. According to ...

to prevent the entry of migrants by installing barriers and razor wire, as well as arresting those who crossed for trespassing. It also inhibited the processing of the migrants by the Border Patrol.

References

Parks in Texas Protected areas of Maverick County, Texas {{Texas-protected-area-stub