Corpus Christi
Area History

Including Portland and
Padre Island

For many hundreds of years the Karankawa, Lipan, and other Indian tribes occupied the area around Corpus Christi, hunting and fishing
along the bays and islands.

In 1519, the Spanish explorer Alonzo Alvarez de Pineda sailed into the Bay on the day of the Roman Catholic Feast of Corpus Christi (Body of Christ), giving the Bay and later the city its name.

The area remained largely unoccupied until 1839, when Colonel Henry Lawrence Kinney established a trading post on the site of what is now downtown Corpus Christi. This small settlement was originally called Kinney's Trading Post, or Kinney's Ranch and by the mid 1840s became known as
Corpus Christi.

Texas had won its independence from Mexico in 1836, but the area between the Nueces River and the Rio Grande remained in dispute. In 1845, Texas was annexed by the United States to become the 28th State and President Polk sent US troops under the command of General Zachary Taylor to defend Texas' claim to the areas north of the Rio Grande. Taylor established a camp for his army just north of what is now downtown Corpus Christi and spent about eight months there preparing for war with Mexico. The presence of this large army helped Corpus Christi to flourish.

Follow the links below for more information about the History of Corpus Christi

Historical Sites and Stories
Corpus Christi Pass (Padre Island)
Ennis Joslin Indian Burial Ground
Fishing in Nueces Bay
Flinn Cemetery (Nueces Co.)
Fort Lipantitlan State Historic Site (Nueces Co.)
Nueces Bay in 1894 (Nueces Co.)
Padre Balli (Padre Island)
South Texas Coffee (San Patricio Co.)
The Dunn Ranch (Padre Island)
The Gulley on Corpus Christi Bay (San Patricio Co.)
Historical Markers
Agua Dulce (Robstown)
Alta Vista Hotel, Site of
Angelita (Littlest Angel) (Odem)
Artesian Park and Sulphur Well
Arthur Edward Spohn, M.D. and Spohn Hospital
Banquete Cemetery (Banquete)
Banquete, C.S.A. (Banquete)
Battle of Agua Dulce
Battle of San Patricio (San Patricio)
Bethel Baptist Church of Christ and Cemetery (Odem)
Bishop (Bishop)
Broadway Bluff Improvement
Calallen
Captain Enrique Villarreal and Rincon del Oso Land Grant
Casa Blanca Land Grant (Banquete)
Cattle Drives from South Texas
Centennial House
Chapman Ranch
Chat Work Club (Portland)
Church of the Good Shepherd Episcopal
Coleman-Fulton Pasture Company (Taft)
Corpus Christi Cathedral
Corpus Christi, 1861-1865
Courthouses of San Patricio County (San Patricio)
Early History of Port of Corpus Christi
Elihu Harrison Ropes (Nueces Co.)
Felix von Blucher
First Baptist Church of Corpus Christi
First Methodist Church of Corpus Christi
First Presbyterian Church of Corpus Christi
Flour Bluff
Fort Lipantitlan (Banquete)
Fort Lipantitlan (Banquete)
French-Galvan House
General W.W. Sterling
George H. Paul Building Site (Robstown)
Grande-Grossman House
Gregory (San Patricio)
Guaranty Title Company
Hebrew Rest Cemetery
Henry Lawrence Kinney
Hotel Brendle (Robstown)
Jalufka-Govatos House
John Dunn, Jr. Homesite
Julius Lichtenstein House
Karankawa Indians
Kelsey Memorial Methodist Church (Iglesia Metodista Kelsey Memorial)
Kovner-Bobys Homestead (aka Merriman-Bobys House)
Lone Star Fair
LULAC
Martha (Reagan) Rabb (February 25, 1826-March 20, 1901) (Robstown)
Matthew Dunn
McCampell House
Merriman House (Merriman-Bobys House)
Mt. Zion Missionary Baptist Church (Robstown)
Nicholas Bluntzer (Banquete)
Nueces County
Nueces County
Nueces County Courthouse of 1914
Nuecestown (4 Miles North)
Nuecestown Cemetery
Nuecestown Raid
Nuecestown Schoolhouse
Old Bayview Cemetery
Old Cemetery on the Hill (San Patricio)
Old Dougherty House (San Patricio)
Old Saint Anthony's Catholic Church (Robstown)
Old St. Patrick's Church
Padre Island and Padre Nicolas Balli
Pat Dunn Ranch
President William Howard Taft Visits Taft (Taft)
Reef Road (Portland)
Saint John Baptist Church
Saint Patrick's Catholic Church (San Patricio)
San Patricio County (San Patricio)
San Patricio de Hibernia (San Patricio)
Santa Margarita Crossing (Banquete)
Sharpsburg and Borden's Ferry (Odem)
Sidbury House
Sidbury-Savage House
Simon Gugenheim House
Sisters of the Incarnate Word
Site of Bay View College (Portland)
Site of Kinney's Trading Post
Site of Old Salt Mill
Site of Santa Petronila Ranch (Driscoll)
Site of the Corpus Christi Lighthouse
Site of the Nueces Hotel
Solomon Coles (1844-1924) and Solomon Coles School
Sunshine Cemetery
Taft Agricultural Industrial Complex (Taft)
Texas Revolution Memorial (San Patricio)
The Corpus Christi Caller-Times
Theodore Merchant Lawrence
Thomas S. Parker
Wynn Seale Junior High School

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