Overview

Corpus Christi, located on the Gulf of Mexico in South Texas, is halfway between Houston and Brownsville.

Visitors will find gorgeous ocean views, and many activities centered around beaches and watersports - fishing, sailing, windsurfing, and just plain old swimming and relaxing on the beach.

Corpus Christi is a major deep-water port and one of Texas' s most popular seacoast playground cities. Known simply as "Corpus" to Texans, the city has retained its small town friendliness and charm throughout its years of expansion.

The two mile sea wall running through the heart of the business district was constructed in such a way as to open the city to the Bay rather than to form a barricade. Steps lead down to the water and to the popular "T" head docks for pleasure boats. The waterfront was designed in the late 1930's by Guzon Borglum, sculptor of Mount Rushmore. He worked with the city at that time on the major landfill project that created Shoreline Boulevard and Corpus Christi Beach. His design joined the beauty of the miles of blue water with the cityscape.

North of downtown over the bridge, is the site of the USS Lexington, a floating naval museum, as well as Texas State Aquarium, and extensive park and picnic areas. Scenic bayfront cruises provide an orientation to all that the waterfront offers.

Port Aransas is the deep-sea fishing capital of Texas. Gulf waters are full of king mackerel, red snapper and pompano. The Great Texas Coastal Birding Trail offers birders plenty of sightings year around. The sunny beaches, eclectic island atmosphere, funky shops and waterside restaurants of Port Aransas appeal to just about everyone.

A favorite with children is the ferry boat ride into the ship channel to watch the dolphins frolic in their natural habitat.

The Beach Loop is a scenic drive that takes about an hour with no stops (if the ferry isn't too busy). It is wise, however, to allow a few hours for browsing the shops, walking the beach, swimming in the surf, and enjoying the view.

From Downtown Corpus Christi, cruise along Ocean Drive savoring the gorgeous view of the bay. Turn at Ennis Joslin Road to reach South Padre Island Drive (S.P.I.D.) also known as Route 358, and turn east. You will soon reach a causeway which meanders up and down over bridges and takes you to Padre Island National Seashore. Turn left on Route 361, a paved road that runs through the middle of the island. You will see several Beach Access Roads along the way. Eventually you will reach Port Aransas which has shops, restaurants, and bars.

You will then drive onto a ferry for a great ride. If you get out of your car on the ferry, you might see some porpoise following behind. Route 361 leads to Aransas Pass, known as the "shrimp capital of the world", then to Gregory, Portland, and back to Corpus Christi.

If you have time, take a side trip along Route 35 to the sleepy little town of Rockport, the area "artist community". There you will find a wide variety of stores featuring local art, paintings, seashells, and beachwear. If you continue to Fulton, you will pass the Fulton Mansion, a Texas landmark which has periodic tours through the historic home.

For an entertaining and enjoyable meal, stop at Boiling Pot Seafood which serves huge pots of boiled crabs, shrimp, corn, and potatoes. They will ceremoniously deposit all of this in the middle of your table, put giant bibs on everyone, and hand out wooden mallets for cracking the shellfish. Open from lunch to late evening, seven days a week, they feature blues bands on the weekends, but the process of pounding and cracking your way through the meal is entertainment enough!

Texas is cattle country and no city captures the roping, wrangling, ranching spirit of the old west like Kingsville. Just south of Corpus Christi, Kingsville is the city that grew up around the famous King Ranch. Bigger than the state of Rhode Island, the King Ranch is one of the largest (825,000 acres) and oldest working cattle ranches in the world. Guided tours are offered at the ranch and its history is also preserved in exhibits at the Conner Museum at Texas A&M University-Kingsville. While visiting Kingsville, be sure to take time for a big Texas beef steak or spicy Mexican food.

If time permits, plan to take a side trip to Mexico less than three hours away! And, the Corpus Christi area is a shopper's paradise. From malls and retail centers, to antique shops, souvenir centers and galleries, there's something for everyone!

Corpus Christi's status as one of the breeziest (warm breezes) cities in the nation makes it a hot spot for those who love the wind and waves.. Each spring the city hosts the annual U.S. Open Windsurfing Regatta. Weekly sailboat regattas are held on Wednesday evening all year round. The variety of waterways, from open Gulf beaches to protected coves, makes the Corpus Christi area attractive to beginners and experts alike.

In keeping with the city's image of maintaining glistening waterways, Corpus Christi's Water Garden at Bayfront Arts and Science Park sparkles for visitors who see, hear, and touch the garden's water. Some 150 fountains form the nucleus of the park, which is lighted at night.

The revitalized downtown area provides visitors with an array of stores, restaurants, and nightlife. The center of activity downtown is the Water Street Market, a collection of places to dine, shop, and then relax with a cool drink and evening entertainment.

These are just a few of the unforgettable sights and sounds of Corpus Christi. How can anyone resist a visit to this Sparkling City by the Sea?

The area in which Corpus Christi is located was explored by Europeans around 1519, but no settlement was made at that time. In that same year, Spanish explorer Alonso Alvarez identified the area as Corpus Christi (Body of Christ), giving it the name of the religious feast day. Attempts to establish missions were actively opposed militarily by local Native Americans.

When Texas became a republic in 1836, it claimed the Rio Grande as its southern border. Mexico disagreed and set the border farther north at the Nuces River. Corpus Christi was established where the Nuces River reaches the Gulf of Mexico in order to set up a base of operations to pursue the boundary dispute.

In 1839 US troops under the command of General Zachary Taylor set up a small tent city there in preparation for battle with Mexico. Among Taylor's troops were three future US presidents: Taylor himself, Franklin Pierce and Ulysses S. Grant. Jefferson Davis, future president of the Confederacy, was also present.

Even before the border dispute was resolved (eventually the Rio Grande became the boundary), the settlement at the Nuces River remained and Corpus Christi came into being. It did not become part of Texas until the Mexican war of 1846. By then it had become a supply route for US troops headed to Mexico.

The person responsible for establishing Corpus Christi as a permanent settlement was Colonel Henry Lawrence Kinney, an adventurer from Pennsylvania who established a trading post in the area in 1839. After the Mexican war, Kinney aggressively promoted the town throughout the East as "the Italy of America" because of its sunny climate.

One of the men who had encamped there, Captain Forbes Britton of Virginia, returned to Corpus Christi with his wife in 1850 after retiring from the army. He entered ranching and was active in the State government. Their home, built on land they purchased from Kinney, (Britton-Evans Centennial House) is the oldest existing structure in the city. Built in 1848-1850, the brick house has foundations of shellcrete, a cement reinforced with oyster shells indigenous to the area.

Henry Kinney moved away in 1854 and unsuccessfully tried to establish a colony in Nicaraugua. In the mid 1920's the Army Corps of Engineers dug a deep ship channel. No longer a landlocked bay, Corpus Christi had become a deep channel port with access to the sea. It is the deepest port on the Texas coast and has consequently attracted businesses and established a strong industrial base.

The city's position was enhanced further with the introduction of the Naval Air Station and its advanced flight training school. This facility is one of the area's major employers and includes the Army Depot, the primary repair facility for Army helicopters.

Henry Kinney's vision was fulfilled in the years beyond his lifetime as Corpus Christi evolved from a smugglers' cove and frontier trading post into a booming tourist and vacation area of hotels, modern commercial buildings and palm lined boulevards.