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!

Rockport, Texas: The Texas Riviera

We coasted into Rockport about 4pm after a long day of visiting towns on the Texas Coast.  It’s the county seat of Aransas County and it sits right on Aransas Bay. The name came from the rocky ledge underlying the shore.

Rockport was founded after the Civil War when agents of the Morgan Shipping line built a wharf on a site that would later become the town. They founded it as a cattle slaughtering, packing and shipping port. They used the cattle for the tallow and the hides as they didn't have a way to preserve the meat. So they would just toss the carcasses to rot in a field. Ick. Imagine the smell...and the flies!

As the cattle business began to wane, the town turned to shipbuilding, shrimping and fishing as new industries for the town. Tourism also began to blossom as the railroad brought passengers to the coast. This is the Rockport Marina.

We were initially enchanted by the town as we drove along the harbor. We were also eager to try seafood in this town, which we did. We found a little hole in the wall called Nemo’s that had great grilled fish.

Rockport has lots to see starting with the Fulton Mansion. George Fulton came to Texas to fight in the Texas Revolution. He was granted land in payment for his services. He built a cool mansion in 1874 right on the waterfront. It featured 4 stories, modern central heating and plumbing as well as gas lighting. George was one of the cattle ranchers in the early days of Rockport.

All the rooms had a fireplace across from a bay window. The fireplace never had a fire in it. The heat came from a furnace in the basement that pushed heat through ducts throughout the house. In the summer, they would open the flue and open the windows. This would generate a cross breeze that would cool the room. Ingenious!

They lived in the mansion until 1895. This is the view from the front porch of the house. I enjoyed touring the house. One of the docents said she used to play at this house when she was a kid. This would have been after the Fulton family moved out. She was older but not that old. 

We also visited the Texas Maritime Museum where you see the maritime history of the Gulf Coast. One of the exhibits documents the shipbuilding industry here in during World War I.

This plaque tells about the Heldenfels shipyard in Rockport that built Liberty ships in World War I. The shipyard was destroyed by a hurricane in 1919.

The inside was kind of shaped like a boat. Another exhibit they had was on Bernardo de Galvez. Did you know that the Spanish assisted during the American Revolution? Galvez was the Spanish governor of Louisiana and he controlled the activity on the Mississippi River. On the sly, he helped provide supplies to the colonists until Spain declared war on Britain. Then he helped out loud. I never knew.

There were several hands-on exhibits for kids. The museum was free, which was another benefit. It kept this kid occupied as we looked around. I thought the museum was cool and, it was free.

As I mentioned, Rockport is the county seat of Aransas County. The courthouse was built in 1889. Now this is a courthouse! Unfortunately, it was demolished in 1956 because it was not practical for their modern needs. Hmm..

That gorgeous courthouse was replaced with this one. No character. No charm. Just function, I supposed. Then in 2017, Hurricane Harvey hit Rockport. It caused severe damage to the city. It picked up a cargo trailer and hurled it into the courthouse. Huh. I guess Harvey didn't like the courthouse either. For several years, they used an old grocery store as a courthouse.

Now they have this beautiful courthouse, completed about eight years after the hurricane destroyed the previous one. They still hadn't moved in when we visited in early February 2026. When I asked one of the docents at the Fulton Mansion about it, she just shook her head and said that was a sore subject around here. It was originally voted down and then it ended up costing way more than originally intended. At least it looks better than the one they had before.

We found a little walking trail along "Little Bay", which is a body of water that is between the town and Rockport Beach. That was one thing that I was disappointed in. No seawall along the water of people to walk and enjoy the view without being in the way of cars. Rockport Beach is lovely. It's on Aransas Bay so no big waves or anything.

In walking around the beach, we found this big green crab - that used to be blue! In 1957, it sat outside the Del Mar Grill known for it's delicious crab cakes. The restaurant closed in 1965 and the crab was purchased by the Chamber of Commerce and moved here. After several hurricanes, the original crab had to be taken down. This one was built in 2012 using sturdier materials.

Rockport has a lot of older historical houses as well. This one is prominently displayed on the main street across from the Texas Maritime Museum. This is the Hoops-Smith House that was built in 1892. At one time it was used as a hotel and a boardinghouse. I'd love to go inside there now. I think it's used as a business.

Once you get past the courthouse, the vibe of the town seem to relax a bit. There are little restaurants, art galleries and shops along the main stretch of road. There are also lots of houses along the shoreline. I can see why it's called the Texas Riviera.

There have been four big hurricanes that have hit Rockport over the years. We were told that prior to Hurricane Harvey (2017) they didn't have any hotels that were more than one story for that reason. Now they do. Our hotel, for example, had four floors but it wasn't right on the water.

There are about 10K people that live here. It seemed much more lively than Port Lavaca even though it's about the same size with the same stuff - meaning the H-E-B and Walmart for groceries, the main fast food joints and only local sit-down restaurants.

If you enjoy birding, this would be the place for you. There are tons of birds here as it's on the North American migratory Bird route. Who knew?

I'd come back down here again. I liked the vibe but don't take my word for it. If you're in the area, check it out!

Port Lavaca, Texas: Paradise on the Bay

On our tour down the Texas Coast, we stopped in Port Lavaca, county seat of Calhoun County. The town was founded in 1840 after a terrible attack by the Comanche Indians on the nearby town of Linnville. The terrified citizens of Linnville fled to the water and watched from boats anchored in the bay while the Comanche destroyed their town. After the raid, many of the Linnville citizens moved to Port Lavaca.

Lavaca means “The cow”. Weird that a town would be named as such but it was named for Lavaca Bay. By 1842, the town was laid out and by 1846, named the county seat of Calhoun County. For a while it was the terminus of the Morgan ship lines. After a couple of years, Charles Morgan abandoned Port Lavaca and rerouted the ships to Indianola due to the sandbars in Lavaca Bay that forced the ships to dock far away.

Even so, Port Lavaca was still a busy shipping port. Then in 1852, Indianola became the county seat. It had the shipping advantage due to a deepwater port near Powderhorn. By 1860, Lavaca had fallen behind Indianola.

During the Civil War, Lavaca was had a lot of military activity including a Confederate arsenal and a small arms manufactory. Supposedly, the county seat was moved back to Port Lavaca in 1864 because the citizens of Indianola swore allegiance to the Union Troops. But by the end of the war, it was moved back to Indianola.

Then in 1886, Indianola was hit was a hurricane so severe the town was completely destroyed. Once again the county seat was moved back to Port Lavaca, this time permanently. Whiplash!

In the 1940s, several companies set up shop in nearby Point Comfort like Alcoa, DuPont and Formosa. They also developed a shrimping industry along with agriculture and livestock.

By the time we got there, we were pretty tired and I forgot that we were there to check out the Texas Coast. Our first stop was to see the Half Moon Reef lighthouse. Built in 1858, the lighthouse sat out in Matagorda Bay. Supplies were only brought to the lighthouse twice a year! It was decommissioned in 1942 and moved here in 1979. 

You can see Lavaca Bay in the background here but we never drove over by the water. Instead we headed straight over to the Calhoun County Museum.

This is the 1896 Calhoun County Jail. Like most county jails at the time, the Sheriff's residence was on the first floor and the jail cells were on the second floor. It would not have been unusual for the sheriff's wife to cook for the inmates. That would have sucked! Also on the second floor was a gallows that was only used once. In 1914, a Black man named Henry Wilson was executed for the murder of a white woman. In 1964, the building was no longer used as a jail and the Calhoun County Museum moved in. Unfortunately, the building was not well maintained and it had to be demolished in 2001.

Now the museum is next to the county courthouse. Admission is free.

It's mostly a disorganized jumble of stuff. For example, this desk at the front of the museum was used by the Navidad Hotel, which became the Seagull Hotel. The hotel was built in 1907. It ceased being a hotel sometime in the 1960s. The building is still around but I think it's apartments now. 

They also had this random bedroom set. It was hand carved in 1870. That's cool but there's no story associated with it. Just the fact that was hand carved and used in Indianola. 

This used to be the Calhoun County Courthouse back in 1887 when the county seat came back to Port Lavaca for good. This courthouse has charm and character. It was demolished because it was outdated and had been outgrown.

In 1959, this new courthouse was erected. It was designed by the same guys who did the Matagorda County Courthouse in Bay City. While it may be functional, it has no character.

Main Street in Port Lavaca consists of some old run down buildings. This is the Lavaca Theater that was built as a movie house in 1930s. By the 1950s it was vacant. In the mid-1980s, it was renovated into a live theater. This is the only building on the street that seems to have any history.

In 1856, the San Antonio & Mexican Gulf Railway went from Port Lavaca to Victoria in the hopes of opening a trade route. During the Civil War, the tracks were pulled up to prevent the Union soldiers from using it. In the 1870s, Charles Morgan's steamship company used the train lines. Then in 1884, it was bought by Southern Pacific. The depot was built around 1908. Passenger serviced continued until the 1930s bringing folks in to go to the beach.

About 12K people live in Port Lavaca. Most probably work at the big plants located in the area like Alcoa and Formosa. They have an HEB and a Walmart along with most of your fast food chains. I didn't see any major sit-down restaurant chains but I assume the restaurants there are pretty good.

I was disappointed in Port Lavaca. I felt like there was a lot of potential here but nobody wanted to make the effort. Similar to the county museum, it was just a hodge podge of things with no story to tell. But don't take my word for it. If you're in the area, check it out for yourself!

Palacios, Texas: The Shrimp Capital of Texas

As we were initially planning a drive down the coast a couple of years ago, we saw a video that a daytripper had done while visiting this small town. I thought it was hokey and that he was mispronouncing the name of the town. He was. But then, so were we.  It’s Puh-lashes (like eyelashes) is what we were told.

The town sits on the shores of TresPalacios Bay and in 1901 was just a bull pasture. The owner sold the land to the Texas Rice Development company who then subdivided into 160-acre tracts. The original name of the town was TresPalacios but when it came time to open a post office, they found that name already taken so it was shortened to Palacios.

The Hotel Palacios (later the Luther Hotel) was built in 190 by the Texas Rice Development Company. It had a 300 foot porch. It started out as a 16 room structure. Then in 1905, it was moved to the beach front, where it stands today, and then expanded. 

In 1936, it was purchased by Charles and Elsie Luther and the hotel became a hub for tourists, rice farmers and military personnel. They even had famous people like Shirley Temple and Rita Hayworth! It closed in 2022 and was vacant. (I found these two photos on the internet).

In 2024, it was purchased by JP Bryan and is in the process of being restored. This is very exciting for me. Maybe we'll come back and stay here when it's all done.

In 1926, Camp Hulen was opened as a training center for the 36^th infantry of the Texas National Guard. The camp was then leased by the War Department during World War II. After the war, Palacios began to decline.

We got there around noon and found a quiet little town on the bay. I’m not sure what I was expecting but I was pleasantly surprised. We parked on the water. As I mentioned, the city is right on TresPalacios Bay and they have a huge seawall. They also have a lot of piers that used to hold these magnificent pavilions.  Now they are just fishing piers.

After our picnic lunch by the water, we went over to the City By the Sea Museum. That’s right, Palacios has a small museum. It’s free but worth a visit. They opened at noon and we were right there waiting, much to the surprise of the volunteers that ran the place. In the background of this photo you can see the newest pavilion which was built in 2019.

This was the fella that gave us the pronunciation of the town. He also told us that if you lived here, you were either a farmer or a shrimper. The shrimping industry came to Palacios in 1922 but wasn't initially successful because people didn't realize you could eat shrimp. What? We love shrimp! But back then, they didn't know but they learned and shrimping became a big industry. In the 1970s, a lot of Vietnamese immigrants moved here to take part in that industry. It was rocky at first but eventually, the everyone worked it out. This is the first floor of the museum where most of the exhibits are.

This old telephone booth was in the Luther Hotel in the 1940s. It was from here that the soldiers would call home during World War II when they were stationed in Palacios. I love this stuff!

The City by the Sea Museum is in this building, the R.J. Hall Building which was built in 1910. It originally housed a mercantile store and eventually a Montgomery Wards. Remember that place? 

Palacios was very big on pavilions. This one was built in 1904 and at the end of the pier (shown below). It was used for entertainment and had a dance hall and a dock by which people and goods could be loaded and unloaded.

This is that same pier today. As you can imagine, there were several hurricanes that hit this town. The pavilion was so battered by the hurricanes that it was torn down in 1935. This is one of the places where we walked along the water. 

This cool looking building was erected in 1913 and is called the Elder Building. It was originally built as a garage with the upper floor as the Masonic Lodge. The symbol for the Lodge was between the two upper windows but has since been removed. Now it's a machine shop on the bottom and an apartment on the second floor, though it doesn't really look like it's occupied.

Built in 1908, this was once the Citizens State Bank on the first floor and the Masonic Lodge on the second. Those Masons really get around! After merging with the Palacios State Bank, it closed in 1936.

Like most of the towns in the area, Palacios had significant railroad activity. Here in the Railroad park they have a retired caboose from the Southern Pacific Railroad.

There's not much to this town. Only 4,300 people live here, which is more than Matagorda. They have a Lowe's Market for a grocery store along with your standard Dollar General. I saw a few fast food places. No McDonald's but they did have Sonic and Dairy Queen. 

I don't know what it was about the vibe of this town that called to me but I liked it. I hoping that once the Luther Hotel is complete maybe we can go back and stay over. Meanwhile, if you're in the area, check it out!