La Ladrillera Home for Rent

Cradling the U.S./Mexico border, La Ladrillera may be a small community, but its culture and history are rich and deep. Two miles northwest of downtown Laredo, the barrio has its roots in a ritual dance troupe known as Los Matachines de la Santa Cruz de La Ladrillera. It’s one of five active groups in Laredo, but this one dates back to the turn of the century in the mining town Las Minas, a municipality in Veracruz, Mexico. Families and workers relocated to Delores, Texas, to work in the coal mines, and after the mines closed in the late 1930s, they settled in what is now La Ladrillera — bringing the tradition with them. "Everybody in the neighborhood participates, embraces it and looks forward to it," says Dr. Norma Cantú, Ph.D., a Murchison Distinguished Professor of the Humanities at Trinity University in San Antonio. She lived in the barrio community Las Cruces, 3 miles east of the neighborhood, and graduated from Martin High School. “When you're from Laredo, when you meet people, the first two things they ask you are what high school you graduated from and what barrio you grew up in,” Cantú says. Beyond rich cultural traditions, La Ladrillera is not far from Laredo’s most