Corpus Christi

According to legend, Corpus Christi Bay was named by the Spanish explorer Alonzo Alvarez de Pineda, who found it on Corpus Christi Day in 1519. It is more likely, however, that it was named by the first settlers, who arrived from the lower Rio Grande valley in the 1760's. Tradition holds that In 1839, Col. H. L. Kinney founded a trading post there and traders and adventurers started a raffish colony on land claimed by both Texas and Mexico. The settlement was named Corpus Chrisi. It grew to be a small port and terminus for overland wagon-train traffic and it boomed during the Mexican War. The U.S. Navy briefly occupied Corpus Christi in the Civil War. The city developed its industry after the discovery of oil in the region. The completion of a deepwater channel past Mustang Island in 1926 boosted its economy futher.

Nowadays, Corpus Christi is a busy port on the mouth of the Nueces River, at the entrance to Nueces Bay. The city is an oil and gas center, with refineries, smelters, chemical works and food-processing plants, as well as large seafood, fishing and health-care industries. Sports-fishing facilities, beaches and a mild climate make Corpus Christi a popular tourist and convention center. It is also the gateway to Padre Island National Seashore.

There are many historical sites in Corpus Christi. The city is the seat of Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi. A naval air station is on the southern shore of the Corpus Christi Bay. Occasional hurricanes occur in the region and to counter their devastating effects, a 3749 m (12,300 feet) long seawall was built between 1939 and 1941 to protect Corpus Christi from flooding.

There are numerous hotels and restaurants in town. Corpus Christi is in the south of Texas, 570 km south of Dallas and some 2280 km southwest from Washington D.C.