The Tecate Port of Entry is one three ports of entry in the San Diego–Tijuana metropolitan region. The land port is located between Tecate, California, in San Diego County's Mountain Empire and Tecate Municipality in Baja California. It connects California State Route 188 with Paseo Lázaro Cárdenas, a spur of Mexican Federal Highway 2, as well as Federal Highway 3 to the south. It is a minor port in comparison to the larger San Ysidro Port of Entry and the Otay Mesa Port of Entry. This is attributed in part to the fact that reaching the crossing on the US side requires driving on narrow, winding mountain roads.

Tecate Port of Entry
Tecate Border Inspection Station
Location
CountryUnited States
Location405 Tecate Road, Tecate, California 91980
Coordinates32°34′37″N 116°37′38″W / 32.576852°N 116.627179°W / 32.576852; -116.627179
Details
Opened1919
Phone(619) 938-8330
Hours5:00 AM-11:00 PM
Exit PortTecate, BC, Mexico
Statistics
2011 Cars1,571,780
2011 Trucks51,930
Pedestrians525,312
Website
https://www.cbp.gov/contact/ports/tecate-class-california-2505
US Inspection Station-Tecate
NRHP reference No.91001748
Added to NRHPFebruary 14, 1992

History

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Tecate border crossing as seen from Mexico in 1919. US Customs building is on the left

The original port of entry was established sometime prior to 1919 to inspect the traffic traveling from Tecate, Baja California, in large part to shop at the Thing Brothers store (later the Johnson store) on the US side of the border.[1] The current historic border inspection station (where pedestrians continue to be inspected) was built in 1933; this building was listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places in 1992. In 2005 the port was re-opened as an expansion project was completed. Vehicular traffic is now inspected in a new facility attached to the rear of the historic port. The expanded port cost US$18 million and had approximately five times as much space as the original 1933 facility.[2]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Vezina, Meredith (April 29, 1993). "Time for all Things goes a ways back". The San Diego Union-Tribune.
  2. ^ Lindquist, Diane (March 12, 2005). "Tecate opens expanded port of entry". The San Diego Union-Tribune. Archived from the original on March 5, 2016.
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