Texas Tourism

City is major deep-water port and one of Texas' most popular seacoast playground cities. First European to have visited area is believed to have been Spanish explorer Alonzo de Piñeda in 1519. First settlement began as frontier trading post founded 1839 by impresario-colonizer Col. Henry Lawrence Kinney; obscure settlement until about 1845 when accelerated growth began. Institutions of higher learning are Del Mar College and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.

Seawall, with steps to the water, was built in the late 1930s as part of a major landfill that created Shoreline Boulevard and the popular "T" head docks for pleasure boats. Corpus Christi Beach, north of downtown over the bridge, is the site of the USS Lexington and Texas State Aquarium, and offers park areas, picnic tables, showers, and rest rooms. For maps and current information on Corpus Christi attractions see Visitor Centers.

In keeping with the city's image of having 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 nucleus of park, which is lighted at night.

---

Texas Tourism