Corpus Christi, Texas: Sparkling City By The Sea

Our last stop on the drive down the coast was Corpus Christi, which is the last town on the coast before you have to turn inland to continue south. I’d been to Corpus before and hadn’t been super impressed so I didn’t make much of a plan, which was a mistake.

Corpus Christi sits on the mouth of the Nueces River by Corpus Christi Bay.  This area of Texas is called the “Coastal Bend”. I’m not sure why but I like that name. The name Corpus Christi supposedly came from Alonso Alvarez de Pineda in 1519 when he passed through on the Feast of Corpus Christi. 

The town wasn’t permanently settled until 1839 with a small trading post that sold supplies to travelers. In 1845, General Zachary Taylor set up camp here when he was preparing for war with Mexico.  The Morgan Lines (the steamship company that seems to have been cruising up and down the Texas Coast) began making regular stops here in the 1850s.

During the Civil War, the Battle of Corpus Christi was fought. The US Navy blockaded the city forcing the Confederate Navy into a sea engagement. The Union forces won. Despite the blockade, the Confederates were still able to transport goods using either the Brazos River or the Rio Grande.

After the war, ranching became a popular industry, particularly sheep ranching though there was cattle as well. Corpus Christi became the center of the wool market in the 1870s. In the mid-1870s, there was a cattle boom. Corpus Christi became an important shipping point for cattle in South Texas.

By 1914, the city was served by four railroads: The Texas Mexican, The San Antonio & Aransas Pass, the St Louis, Brownsville & Mexico and the San Antonio, Uvalde & Gulf. The city was billed as an all year resort. The heavy tourist industry fueled the construction of hotels and boarding houses.

Then in 1919, the city was devastated by a hurricane that pretty much wiped the place out, killing about 400 people. Today they have a seawall that helps protect the city from hurricanes, though they still do get some damage.

We stayed at the Doubletree on the beach across the New Harbor Bridge from downtown. It was a great hotel and we had a fantastic view of Corpus Christi Bay. We got there around 4-ish and, after we checked in to the hotel, we drove around a bit. The view from the balcony of our room.

The New Harbor Bridge over the Corpus Christi Shipping Channel.

Corpus has a fantastic seawall that covers the distance of the shoreline. They also have these cool little pavilions along the way where you can step in and sit in the shade and get a little rest. The last time we were here, we stepped inside of of these and found that someone was living there. Oops!

The jetty. This was pretty cool. The wall went way out into the water and made for a nice little walk. We followed it until there was a break in the path.

Being on Corpus Christi Bay makes for smooth sailing. 

Corpus Christi is the county seat of Nueces County. This is the 1914 Nueces County Courthouse. This is a tragedy. It's been vacant since 1977. The city can't afford to tear it down nor can they afford to renovate and repurpose it. There were plenty of investors over the years who were interested in turning it into a hotel, office building, you name it but when it came down to money, there was never enough. So now, it sits and rots. It's heartbreaking.

This boring building is what replaced the 1914 courthouse back in 1977.  Tragic.

There are tons of people that are from Corpus Christi. The most famous is probably Selena unless you're old like me. Then the most famous is this lady, Farrah Fawcett. This cool mural is downtown.

In addition to this statue in one of the pavilions along the seawall, Corpus Christi also has an entire museum dedicated to Selena.

In Heritage Park, they have several old houses like this one: Simon Guggenheim's House. Guggenheim was a native Texan who moved to Corpus Christi in 1882. He and his friend opened a Dry Goods store. He later invested in the petroleum industry and did very well. He built this house in 1900.

Corpus Christi also has a ton of historic churches of all faiths. This is the Corpus Christi Cathedral. It sits on top of a hill and overlooks the town and the water. It's currently closed for renovations but it didn't look like anyone was working on it when we went by in February 2026. A shame because it look gorgeous! I'd love to have seen the inside.

There are several museums in addition to the Selena Museum. This is the USS Lexington which I didn't realize was there or I'd have made time to visit. There's also an art museum, a science and history museum and a museum for Asian culture. 

As if that wasn't enough, there's also a campus for Texas A&M University - Corpus Christi. It's not a big campus but it's right on the water. How cool is that?

There are 317K people that live in Corpus Christi. They have everything that a big city would have. I must confess that it still had a Houston-feel to it that I didn't really care for. I'd love to go back and check out the museums but I don't think I'd want to live there, despite the amazing sunsets and the beautiful, sparkling water.

Don't take my word for it. If you're in the area, check it out!