Since 1980, the Webb County Heritage Foundation has dedicated itself to promoting the history and heritage of Laredo and the border region through a comprehensive working package of year-round tourism venues, a historical archive for local and visiting researchers, walking and step-on tours, annual events and historical exhibits, workshops on historic preservation topics, collaborative projects with state-wide and national preservation organizations, presentations on historical subjects to civic and school groups, and multimedia information tools on heritage educational topics and heritage tourism. Brochures, tour maps, and booklets published by the WCHF are the primary promotional tools used by the City of Laredo to promote our community as a heritage tourism destination. Indeed, the Walking and Step-On tours of Laredo provided by the WCHF are the only professional tours of the city that exist in this community.

The Heritage Foundation operates two history museums – the Republic of the Rio Grande® Museum and the Villa Antigua® Border Heritage Museum – that are open year-round and represent the only place that visitors can learn about Laredo and Webb County’s origins and historical development. The Webb County Heritage Foundation sponsors the annual celebration of the founding of Laredo, again, the only organization to do so and the only organization that systematically promotes Laredo and Webb County as a heritage tourism destination.