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Robstown, Texas

Everything Robstown is known for

RoadyGoat plays music like this when you drive through Robstown. It's free on iPhone, and full songs play through Apple Music.

Music in Robstown

Songs About Robstown

Robstown
Dalton D' Rich
80%
"One stop light hanging 'bove Main"
Por Las Calles De Robstown
Los Marceles
80%
Robstown
Luis y Julián
80%
80%
Nueces County
Vinny Tovar
23%

Artists From Robstown

Rivers & Roads in Song near Robstown

Songs written about the waterways and highways that run near Robstown.

History of Robstown

Robstown, TX RoadyGoat

Robstown. It's a small town, but it has a big history – especially when you consider the people who've called it home. You might not expect it driving through, but championship blood runs deep in this South Texas soil.

Robstown, TX RoadyGoat

Robstown has a rich Mexican-American heritage. The need for agricultural labor brought many settlers of Mexican descent to the area. As Mexican-Americans enrolled in predominantly Anglo-American schools, they faced discrimination. This led to a significant event in 1972 when 150-350 students organized a walkout to protest discriminatory practices in the schools. They demanded an end to verbal and physical abuse, new textbooks, and the introduction of a Chicano studies program. This event highlights the city's Mexican-American history and the fight for equal education.

Robstown, TX RoadyGoat

On April 5, 1972, a significant event occurred in Robstown when 150-350 students organized a walkout to protest discriminatory practices in the schools. They demanded an end to verbal and physical abuse, for the library to be open after school, new textbooks, an end to grade deductions for students who had not received vaccinations, and for the introduction of a Chicano studies program. The refusal of the school principal to meet these demands led to a second walkout on April 11, 1972. This event is a notable part of Robstown's history, reflecting the struggle for equal education and an end to discrimination.

Upshaw, Eugene Thurman, Jr. [Gene]

1945

Eugene Thurman Upshaw, Jr., football player and union leader, was born on August 15, 1945, in Robstown, Texas. He was the oldest child of Eugene Upshaw, Sr., an employee of an oil company, and Cora (Riley) Upshaw, a domestic laborer. Gene and his brothers worked in area cotton fields during their childhoods in an effort to raise extra money to assist the family. Upshaw attended Robstown High School, distinguishing himself academically and athletically. Specifically, Upshaw served as the star pitcher on the school's baseball team. Upon graduation from high school, Upshaw, though tempted to start a baseball career, followed his father's wishes that he obtain a college education. Upshaw attended Texas College of Arts and Industries (later Texas A&I University and currently Texas A&M University-Kingsville) and played tackle and center on the college football team under Coach Gil Steinke. Even though Upshaw had only one year of football experience in high school, Coach Steinke, known as one of the first football coaches in Texas to integrate minority players into his teams, saw promise in the young player. During his four years in Kingsville, Upshaw grew to be 6'5" tall and weighed 255 pounds. His size and speed helped him earn National Association of Intercollegiate Athletes (NAIA) All-American status, and he played a part in establishing Texas A&I as a national powerhouse among small universities, with the school winning six NAIA national championships in the decade following Upshaw's graduation. While in college, he also joined Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity. On December 30, 1967, he married Jimmye Hill. They had one son, Eugene III, but later divorced. Upshaw graduated from Texas A&I with a B.S. degree in 1968. In 1967 the Oakland Raiders drafted Upshaw in the first round (seventeenth over-all) in the first combined American Football League/National Football League draft. Because of his size and agility, the Raiders' coaching staff felt Upshaw would make an excellent offensive guard. Their intuition proved correct as Upshaw, beginning with the first game of his rookie season, started at left guard for the team in more than 200 straight regular season games. During the 1981 season he missed one game because of injury, before returning to finish the season. The following year he missed the entire season because of injuries, and subsequently chose to retire. Upshaw accumulated numerous accolades as a player. He competed in ten conference championship games and seven Pro Bowls. Upshaw was named AFC Lineman of the Year in 1973, 1974, and 1977, as well as being named NFL Lineman of the Year in 1977. For eight years he served as the Raiders' offensive captain, and he is the only player to have played in three different Super Bowls (II, XI, and XV) in three different decades; the Raiders won Super Bowls XI and XV. Finally, Upshaw was named to the NFL's All-Decade Team for the 1970s, the NFL seventy-fifth anniversary All-Time Team (1994), and in 1987 received induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame-he was the first honoree to have played exclusively as a guard. Off the field, though, Upshaw made his longest lasting mark on the NFL through his tireless efforts for players' rights. From 1970 through 1976 Upshaw served as union representative for the Oakland Raiders. Then in 1980 he became the president of the NFL Players Association. In 1983 he became executive director, a position he held until his death. This role made him the first African American to head a major players union. The union, itself, was in financial trouble when Upshaw took over. Through his work, he turned the union into a major force in American sports labor, earning himself a position on the AFL-CIO executive council in 1985. He played a role in the Players Association strike in 1987. His greatest achievement came with the 1993 agreement between the union and the NFL that brought limited free agency to football and dramatically increased players' salaries. Upshaw mar

Rabb, Martha (Reagan)

1857

Martha Reagan moved with her parents from Tennessee to Fayette County, Texas where she met and married John Rabb (1825-1872). In 1857, John and Martha moved their family to Nueces County and settled near Banquete, where John pursued cattle ranching under the Bow and Arrow brand. Rabb raised far more cattle than his ranch land could support by running his herds on the open range. He became one of the most successful cattlemen in the area, owning more than 10,000 head of cattle when he died in 1872. When Martha assumed control of the business, she took it in a dramatically different direction. Forseeing the end of the free-range era, she capitalized on the panic and flight caused by violent raids along the Nueces strip and aggressively began to buy land here in 1875. Within a year, she owned more than 43,000 acres, some of which she bought for as little as 37 cents per acre. Enclosed within 40 miles of fence, the Rabb Ranch included this site and stretched from north of Robstown south to Driscoll, and was bordered on the west by the Petronilla and Banquete Creeks and on the east by present-day Callicoate Road (FM 1694). She became known as a "Texas Cattle Queen." (1992)

Historical Marker → · 3.5 mi away

Paul, George H.

1907

George H. Paul, land developer, was born on an Iowa farm in 1877. He worked for the Luce Land Company of Carroll, Iowa, for a number of years selling land in Canada to midwestern farmers. On January 3, 1907, he arrived in Corpus Christi, Texas, where he organized regular Tuesday excursions from Iowa, Nebraska, and Central Texas, beginning on the first Tuesday in March 1907 and lasting through the entire spring and summer. The special trains took people to Hebbronville, Alice, and Agua Dulce. Paul worked out a deal with Robert Driscoll to sell part of the Driscoll Ranch. To promote land sales Paul established the town of Robstown. From Washington, Iowa, his hometown, he brought a contractor and carpenters, who constructed the first commercial building in town, a general store that also served as the community center. Paul arranged for the railroad to transport prospective buyers to Robstown at special rates, and the first trainload arrived in the fall of 1907. In early 1908 the George H. Paul Company had as many as 1,000 agents in Canada, the Gulf region, and the northern United States. The land sold so rapidly that by 1908 all of the land north of the Texas-Mexican Railway had been sold. By 1909 a considerable amount of land south of the railroad had been sold, as well as some lots in Robstown. In 1908 Paul formed a contract with the Coleman-Fulton Pasture Company . He bought 56,000 acres in San Patricio County from the company with the understanding that the land would be paid for as it was sold. In 1910 he had a similar contract with John J. Welder for 70,000 acres. He sold the land by employing promotional techniques similar to those used in selling the Driscoll Ranch lands. Paul founded St. Paul, Texas, in 1910. He was married and had one son. He died in severe poverty on August 22, 1965.

Youngblood, Guadalupe Cruz, Jr.

1970

Guadalupe Cruz Youngblood, Jr., Tejano political activist, public officeholder, and educator, was born to Guadalupe Cruz Youngblood, Sr., and Josefina (de la Paz) Youngblood in Robstown, Nueces County, Texas, on November 2, 1946. Guadalupe Jr. (also known as Lupe) had one brother and three sisters. Youngblood attended public schools in Robstown. In 1961, at fourteen years of age, he was struck by an automobile and critically injured but survived. He graduated from Robstown High School in 1965. Youngblood completed an associate’s degree from Christopher College of Corpus Christi in 1967. In 1969 he graduated from Texas A&I University in Kingsville (now Texas A&M University–Kingsville) with a B.A. degree in sociology and psychiatry. Youngblood was a political activist in the 1960s and 1970s. He became the Texas state chairman of the La Raza Unida Party and taught Mexican American studies at several colleges. Youngblood was involved in the progressive Mexican American student movement in the 1960s and 1970s, along with Jose Angel Gutiérrez, Carlos Guerra , Emilio Zamora, and others. The Raza Unida Party was formed in 1970. Its first statewide convention was held in San Antonio in October 1971. In late 1974 the convention was held in Houston. At first Youngblood was considered a dark-horse candidate, but he became the 1974 convention’s compromise candidate and was elected state chair of the party for a two-year term. He was an active advocate for Mexican Americans . He was a member of VISTA, Texas Rural Legal Aid, the Food Research and Action Center, and he was founder of Familias Unidas in Robstown. After the Texas legislature created the 214th Judicial District in Nueces County, Youngblood, as chair of La Raza Unida, sent a telegram to Governor Dolph Briscoe in December 1974 and requested that a Chicano be appointed judge of that district court. The writer of an Associated Press news article about that letter evidently assumed that Youngblood was a female, probably because his first name suggested that. When Southwestern Bell Telephone Company requested a rate hike from its customers in San Antonio, Guadalupe wrote letters to the city’s mayor and each of the city council members and implored them to deny the rate increase. Youngblood worked as a paralegal in the Texas Rural Legal Aid office in Kingsville. Later he served as chief clerk in Robstown in the office of a justice of the peace, Lorenzo Rojas, for sixteen years. In 1998 he and three other candidates ran in the Democratic primary for justice of the peace (in the same office where he had worked so many years as chief clerk, Precinct No. 5). He won a primary runoff against Robert Gonzalez. No Republican ran for the office, and Youngblood won the general election and served for the two-year term. During the campaign, Guadalupe said, “I would like to establish a computer network with the other offices such as the sheriff’s and the police department. When someone comes in our office right now, we have no way of helping them find information on a lost parking ticket, but we also don’t know if someone has a warrant out on their arrest.” In the next Democratic primary, Youngblood was defeated by Gonzalez. On August 19, 1988, Guadalupe Youngblood married Eva R. Montoya; she was sixteen years his junior. He was a member of St. Anthony’s Catholic Church in Robstown. He had a daughter, Marisa Youngblood, and a stepson, Jeremiah Rivera. Youngblood was hospitalized with heart problems shortly after New Year’s Day of 2002 and placed in intensive care. He died there on February 4, 2002, at fifty-five years of age. His funeral Mass was said at St Anthony’s Catholic Church on February 7, 2002. His body was cremated. In an oral history interview in 1998, Judge Lorenzo Rojas praised Guadalupe Youngblood’s steadfast commitment to service: …When I came here, there were two secretaries working here for the incumbent. And the day that I showed up. . .they didn't show up for work. So, I called Y

George H. Paul Building Site

1903

Robstown began in 1903 at the merger point of the Texas-Mexican and the St. Louis, Brownsville and Mexico Railroads. The town grew rapidly after the arrival of land developer George H. Paul. He organized the George H. Paul Land Co., acquired about 300,000 acres of land from nearby ranches, and subdivided the property into cotton farms. Special trains transported Paul's land agents to the East and Midwest to interest prospective buyers in the area. The hub of activities in the new community was the Paul Building, a two story red brick structure erected at this location in 1908. Its first floor was occupied by the Howard and Jacoby General Store. The multi-purpose building also housed Robstown's first school and a community room where church services were held. A windmill and well behind the structure provided the town's water supply. The Guaranty State Bank, organized in 1913 by William H. ("Bill") Daimwood, occupied the Paul Building in 1924. Renamed the State National Bank of Robstown in 1925, it was noted for its stability in the Great Depression of the 1930s. The Paul Building was demolished in 1972, after the structure became unsafe, and a new bank facility was erected at the site. (1976)

St. John Nepomucene Catholic Church

1924

In early twentieth century Robstown, German and Moravian families migrated to this area to farm. Czech-speaking Catholics could not find any places of worship that could provide spiritual services in their native language. Father Joseph Klobouk served as the pastor of St. Boniface Parish in Corpus Christi, but for many years worship services were held in a local home or in nearby communities. A former Methodist church building on East Avenue B and Second Street was purchased in 1924, finally giving Slavic Catholics their own place of worship. It was named after St. John Nepomucene, a popular saint among Czech-speaking Catholics. It became a mission of St. Boniface Parish. Various priests served over the next decade, until 1934 when newly-ordained Father George Steven Scecina was appointed the first resident pastor of St. John’s as well as pastor of St. Frances of Rome Mission Parish in nearby Agua Dulce (where he served from 1934 to 1961). Father Scecina would remain pastor of St. John’s for the next 49 years. A new church was built and furnished on this site in 1937 for $17,504.39, with a rectory added the next year. Father Scecina had a convent and school built near the church in 1945, staffed by nuns from Indiana. By 1951, St. John’s taught classes from elementary school to high school, graduating its first senior class of thirteen students in 1955. More than 320 students graduated from high school before it closed its doors in 1970. Grades one through eight continued to be taught at the original site until 1986. Father Scecina died in 1988. St. John’s church continues to serve the Robstown area.

Things to Do in Robstown

Everything Near Robstown

260 stories, landmarks & places within ~20 miles — the nearest 200 are listed here — the same local lore RoadyGoat plays as you drive through.

  • Robstown, TX

    Robstown. It's a small town, but it has a big history – especially when you consider the people who've called it home. You might not expect it driving through, but championship blood runs deep in this South Texas soil.

  • First United Methodist Church of Robstown · 0.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past First United Methodist Church of Robstown. Formed at the start of the 20th century, Robstown grew around the intersection of the Texas Mexican Railway and the St. Louis, Brownsville & Mexico…

  • Upshaw, Eugene Thurman, Jr. [Gene] · 0.3 mi · Tsha Handbook

    Eugene Thurman Upshaw, Jr., football player and union leader, was born on August 15, 1945, in Robstown, Texas. He was the oldest child of Eugene Upshaw, Sr., an employee of an oil company, and Cora (Riley) Upshaw, a…

  • Paul, George H. · 0.3 mi · Tsha Handbook

    George H. Paul, land developer, was born on an Iowa farm in 1877. He worked for the Luce Land Company of Carroll, Iowa, for a number of years selling land in Canada to midwestern farmers. On January 3, 1907, he arrived…

  • Youngblood, Guadalupe Cruz, Jr. · 0.3 mi · Tsha Handbook

    Guadalupe Cruz Youngblood, Jr., Tejano political activist, public officeholder, and educator, was born to Guadalupe Cruz Youngblood, Sr., and Josefina (de la Paz) Youngblood in Robstown, Nueces County, Texas, on…

  • George H. Paul Building Site · 0.3 mi · Historical Marker

    Robstown began in 1903 at the merger point of the Texas-Mexican and the St. Louis, Brownsville and Mexico Railroads. The town grew rapidly after the arrival of land developer George H. Paul. He organized the George H.…

  • Robstown, TX · 0.3 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Robstown, a town born from railroads and agriculture. Established around 1906 by George Paul, it was named for Robert Driscoll. Robstown really took off as the Winter Garden Region became a major…

  • St. John Nepomucene Catholic Church · 0.4 mi · Historical Marker

    In early twentieth century Robstown, German and Moravian families migrated to this area to farm. Czech-speaking Catholics could not find any places of worship that could provide spiritual services in their native…

  • Texas HS Baseball Leaders 2026: Robstown (Robstown) · 0.5 mi

    Robstown (Robstown, TX) placed on the 4A Texas high school baseball stat leaderboards for the 2026 season: Aiden Lozano (0.469 avg, 1 HR).

  • Hotel Brendle · 0.5 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of the historic Hotel Brendle in Robstown. Opened in 1914, this three-story hotel was built right next to the railroad junction that was the heart of this town's early commercial growth. It…

  • Mt. Zion Missionary Baptist Church · 0.7 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of Mt. Zion Missionary Baptist Church in Robstown. Organized in 1918 by the Riley Mays and Ira Collier families, this congregation held its first service in a local school building. Over the…

  • How the Purple Heart Trail Grew Across Texas · 0.9 mi

    This highway is part of the Purple Heart Trail, a symbolic trail that runs through all fifty states to honor those killed or wounded in combat while serving in the armed forces. In Texas it started with one road. In two…

Show all 200 nearby places
  • The 1969 School Walkout · 2.0 mi

    In April 1972, Robstown High School became a flashpoint for Mexican-American students in Nueces County. Inspired by the Chicano student walkouts that had already swept Edcouch-Elsa, Kingsville, Crystal City, and Uvalde,…

  • The Fury of Hurricane Celia · 2.0 mi

    On August 3rd, 1970, Robstown faced one of the most terrifying storms in Texas history: Hurricane Celia. It came ashore near Corpus Christi as a Category 4, but Celia behaved unlike any other. Instead of widespread…

  • The Violent Science of Hurricane Celia · 2.0 mi

    When Hurricane Celia struck in 1970, it wasn't a typical hurricane. It became a case study in a terrifying weather phenomenon. Meteorologists studying the storm found its immense destruction wasn't from sustained winds…

  • Gene Upshaw: From Robstown to the Hall of Fame · 2.0 mi

    Every town has its heroes, and one of Robstown's is a giant of the football world: Gene Upshaw, born here in 1945. He grew up here, honing his game on local fields before becoming an NAIA All-American at nearby Texas…

  • Rabb, Martha (Reagan) · 3.5 mi · Historical Marker

    Martha Reagan moved with her parents from Tennessee to Fayette County, Texas where she met and married John Rabb (1825-1872). In 1857, John and Martha moved their family to Nueces County and settled near Banquete, where…

  • Saint Anthony's Catholic Church · 4.6 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of Saint Anthony's Catholic Church, founded in 1909 for German Catholic farm families. The original building, constructed in 1910, served as both a church and a schoolhouse. After being…

  • Texas HS Baseball Leaders 2026: Calallen (Corpus Christi) · 5.0 mi

    Calallen (Corpus Christi, TX) placed on the 4A Texas high school baseball stat leaderboards for the 2026 season: Drayton Mitchell (0.495 avg, 7 HR); Wyatt Duke (7 HR); Drayson Gamez (0.576 avg, 1 HR); Jagger Batek…

  • Texas HS Baseball Playoff Leaders 2026: Calallen (Corpus Christi) · 5.0 mi

    Calallen (Corpus Christi) put 6 players on the statewide leaderboards of the 2026 Texas high school baseball playoffs. Drayton Mitchell had 20 hits (1st in the state), 5 home runs (1st in the state), 18 RBI (2nd in the…

  • Texas HS Baseball Playoff Hits 2026: Calallen (Corpus Christi) · 5.0 mi

    Calallen (Corpus Christi), TX placed on the Texas high school baseball PLAYOFF HITS leaderboard for the 2026 postseason: Drayton Mitchell (20 hits, #1 in TX); Reese Rusher (16 hits, #15 in TX).

  • Texas HS Baseball Leaders 2026: Calallen (Calallen) · 5.1 mi

    Calallen (Calallen, TX) placed on the 3A Texas high school baseball stat leaderboards for the 2026 season: Matt Newton (2 HR).

  • Calallen, TX · 5.8 mi

    Calallen is a place where folks still talk about Harvey. It wasn't just the immediate aftermath – the flooded homes near the Nueces River, the downed power lines along 77, the sheer volume of debris piled high on every…

  • Nuecestown Cemetery · 6.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the last remnant of Nuecestown, a community that once thrived here. Established in 1852 by Colonel Henry Lawrence Kinney, this place was known as 'The Motts' before being renamed for the nearby…

  • Hilltop Tuberculosis Sanitorium · 6.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of the former Hilltop Tuberculosis Sanatorium. In the early 1930s, local women, led by Mrs. Fannie Weil Alexander, pushed for a dedicated TB treatment facility. Despite community efforts and…

  • Calallen · 6.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of Calallen, a town that sprang up thanks to a cattleman and a railroad. Calvin J. Allen, a big-name rancher, founded the Calvin Townsite Company in 1910, naming the new settlement after…

  • Nuecestown Schoolhouse · 6.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of old Nuecestown, a settlement planned by Colonel Henry Lawrence Kinney himself back in 1850. Right here, education was a priority. The public school, established before 1885, grew to be…

  • Nuecestown · 6.5 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past what used to be Nuecestown, a settlement founded in 1852 by Henry L. Kinney, the same guy who started Corpus Christi. He even sent agents to Europe to recruit settlers, promising them land and…

  • Nuecestown Raid · 6.5 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Nueces County, near where a violent raid shook this area back in 1875. Tensions were already high between Anglo settlers and Mexican residents along the Nueces River. On March 26th, a band of…

  • Banquete Cemtery · 7.5 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past Banquete, a town whose name literally means 'feast' in Spanish. That feast happened way back in June 1832, when Mexican officials hosted a celebration to welcome Irish colonists who had settled along…

  • Thirty Seven Schools and a Union · 7.6 mi

    State Highway Forty Four, through Nueces and Jim Wells Counties outside Corpus Christi, is the Cesar Chavez Memorial Highway. The Texas Legislature gave it the name in nineteen ninety nine. Chavez was born near Yuma,…

  • Scull, Sarah Jane Newman [Sally] · 7.8 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through what was once wild Texas frontier, and right here, you might have been in the territory of Sally Scull. Born in 1817, Sally was a legend in her own time. She arrived with Stephen F. Austin's first…

  • Banquete, TX · 7.8 mi

    The name Banquete has a rich history, stemming from a four-day feast that honored the completion of a road linking San Patricio, Texas, with Matamoros, Tamaulipas, Mexico. This feast was a celebration of connection and…

  • Banquete C.S.A. · 8.3 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past Banquete, a town that played a surprisingly crucial role in the Civil War. Forget battles; think logistics. During the war, this place was a vital oasis on the Cotton Road to Mexico. Thousands of…

  • A Road Named Twice, Then Given His Full Name · 8.6 mi

    Farm to Market Road Six Sixty Six, between State Highway Forty Four and Farm to Market Road Six Twenty Four in Nueces County, is the Kollyn Gene Barton Memorial Highway. Kollyn Barton was a senior at Banquete High…

  • Sharpsburg and Borden's Ferry · 8.8 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past Odem, Texas, the site of what used to be Sharpsburg. In the 1870s, a man named Sidney Gail Borden transformed this area into a regional trade hub. He ran a general store, a cotton gin, a grist mill,…

  • Santa Petronila Ranch, Site of · 9.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of the Santa Petronila Ranch, established way back in 1764. Captain Blas Maria de la Garza Falcon, sent by the governor of Nuevo Santander, set up this outpost as the very first settlement…

  • The Hospital Built on a Ranching Fortune · 9.4 mi

    The name on the town sign, Driscoll, is also on one of the most important buildings in South Texas: the Driscoll Children's Hospital in Corpus Christi. The connection is direct, and it runs through a remarkable woman.…

  • Engineering a Landscape: How the Railroad Invented Driscoll · 9.4 mi

    The existence of Driscoll is a direct result of a massive transportation engineering project. In the early 1900s, building the St. Louis, Brownsville and Mexico Railway wasn't just about laying tracks; it was about…

  • La Maquinita: The Little Machine That Changed Everything · 9.4 mi

    If you see the railroad tracks running beside the highway, you're looking at the reason Driscoll exists. The St. Louis, Brownsville and Mexico Railway put a station here in 1904 on land owned by Robert Driscoll, Jr.,…

  • Driscoll, TX · 9.4 mi

    As of the 2000 census, Driscoll's racial makeup was diverse, with 55.27% White, 0.48% African American, 0.61% Asian, 0.12% Pacific Islander, and 38.18% from other races. Hispanics or Latinos of any race made up 84.00%…

  • Driscoll, TX · 9.4 mi

    Driscoll, Texas, has a history deeply rooted in the railroad industry. The city was formed around the railroad, which arrived in the area in 1500. This pivotal moment marked the beginning of Driscoll's development, as…

  • Driscoll, Robert, Jr. · 9.5 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through South Texas, an area shaped by the vision of Robert Driscoll Jr. After returning from Europe in 1906, Driscoll took over his family's vast ranching empire, stretching across 125,000 acres. But he…

  • Angelita · 9.5 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through what used to be Angelita, Texas. This community got its start after the Civil War, with a schoolhouse built in the 1880s serving as the heart of local life. Things picked up in 1904 when the…

  • King Ranch · 10.0 mi · Tsha Handbook

    The 825,000-acre King Ranch covers nearly 1,300 square miles, an area larger than the entire state of Rhode Island, on four separate Divisions of land known as Santa Gertrudis, Laureles, Norias, and Encino. These four…

  • Santa Petronila Ranch · 10.0 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Nueces County, and right here is the site of the very first Spanish settlement in this area: the Santa Petronila Ranch. Established in 1762 by Captain Blás María de la Garza Falcón, this wasn't…

  • Garza Falcón, Blas María de la · 10.0 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through South Texas, the land of vast ranches and the mighty Rio Grande. Right here, in what is now Nueces County, you're passing near the historic Santa Petronila ranch. It was established in 1766 by…

  • Garza Montemayor, Juan José de la · 10.0 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Nueces County right now, near the Nueces River. Imagine this: it's 1807, and the very first Spanish land grant in this area, the massive Casa Blanca grant, is awarded. It spans a staggering 70,000…

  • Reef Road · 10.0 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving near Corpus Christi, and right here, under the waves, lies the story of the Reef Road. For early Texans, this wasn't a road at all, but a treacherous path of oyster shells, visible only at low tide,…

  • Rincon Point · 10.0 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving along the coast near Corpus Christi, right where the land makes a sharp turn north. This is Rincon Point, a place that's seen history unfold for centuries. It was first charted by Spanish explorers in…

  • Vicksburg Fault Zone Fields · 10.0 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through South Texas, a region built on oil and gas. Right here, you're passing through the Vicksburg Fault Zone, a massive oil and gas trend stretching from the Mexican border up through counties like…

  • Bob Hall Pier · 10.0 mi · Tsha Handbook

    Bob Hall Pier is located in Nueces County on the north end of Padre Island on the Gulf of Mexico and is part of the 374-acre Padre Balli Park. The lighted structure is open twenty-four hours a day. The pier was built in…

  • Nuecestown, TX · 10.0 mi · Tsha Handbook

    Nuecestown was originally about thirteen miles northwest of Corpus Christi in Nueces County. In 1989 what remained was located in the 11400 block of Leopard St. in Corpus Christi. The town was established in 1852 and…

  • Violet, TX · 10.0 mi · Tsha Handbook

    Violet is on State Highway 44 twelve miles west of Corpus Christi in Nueces County. It came into being in the early 1900s, as immigrant farmers converted the fertile blacklands of the Coastal Bend from cattle to crops.…

  • Nueces County · 10.0 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Nueces County, a place with a history stretching back thousands of years to early hunter-gatherer cultures. But the story of European settlement here really kicks off in 1766. That's when Blas…

  • Casa Blanca Land Grant · 10.3 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Nueces County, where you're passing the site of the Casa Blanca Land Grant. This was the very first Spanish land grant awarded in this area, back in 1798. It was a massive 70,000-acre spread,…

  • Bluntzer, Nicholas · 10.8 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through South Texas, near the site of a man who saw history unfold across the Lone Star State. Nicholas Bluntzer arrived in Texas as a boy with Alsatian immigrants in the 1840s. He scouted against…

  • Bethel Baptist Church of Christ and Cemetery · 11.0 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Odem, and right here is the site of the Bethel Baptist Church of Christ and its cemetery. Organized on May 6, 1873, this was the very first Baptist congregation in San Patricio County. Ten charter…

  • The Town the Railroad Made, and the One It Missed · 11.6 mi

    The railroad tracks running through Odem are the town's birth certificate. The St. Louis, Brownsville and Mexico Railway pushed its line through San Patricio County in 1907, and in 1909 John James Welder and David Odem…

  • Black Gold Under the Cotton Fields · 11.6 mi

    Drive past the flat farmland around Odem and picture the geologists who went broke here first. Early test wells came up dry, and this ground was more or less written off — condemned, in the trade's word. What brought it…

  • Rodeo, TX · 11.6 mi

    Rodeo has its roots in the working practices of cattle herding, originating from Spain and Mexico and spreading across the Americas and beyond. It was based on the skills of working vaqueros and cowboys in the western…

  • At the Forks of the Agua Dulce · 11.7 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of a fierce running fight during the Texas Revolution. Just fifteen miles southwest of San Patricio, at the forks of the Agua Dulce, a group of Texan volunteers met their end. On March 2nd,…

  • First United Methodist Church of Odem · 11.7 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of the First United Methodist Church of Odem. Services began in 1909 in a private home, with Sunday School held in a vacant store. The congregation officially organized in 1910-11 and built…

  • Edroy, TX · 11.8 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through San Patricio County, near the town of Edroy. This community owes its existence to a bit of name-play. Back in 1913, Ed Cubage and Roy Miller teamed up to plan this spot after the railroad pushed…

  • Odem, David · 11.9 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through San Patricio County, and the town of Odem itself is named after a legendary lawman. David Odem served as sheriff here for over twenty-six years, starting in 1882. He was known for his unique…

  • Cattle Drives From South Texas · 11.9 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through the heart of what was once a wild, untamed cattle kingdom! By the 1840s, millions of longhorns roamed South Texas, and they were practically worthless. But that all changed. In 1846, Edward Piper…

  • Meansville, TX · 11.9 mi · Tsha Handbook

    Meansville was three miles southeast of the site of present-day Odem in south central San Patricio County. One of the first settlers in the area was William Means , who arrived before the Civil War . Means was elected…

  • Angelita, TX · 11.9 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through San Patricio County, past the site of what was once Angelita. This little community popped up around 1904, right after the railroad arrived. Rancher John J. Welder built cattle pens, and farmers…

  • Odem, TX · 11.9 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Odem, a town that owes its existence to the railroad. In 1907, the St. Louis, Brownsville and Mexico Railway laid tracks right here, and by 1909, David Odem—the county sheriff—and John James…

  • Odem First Baptist Church · 12.0 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past Odem First Baptist Church. ON SUNDAY, APRIL 28, 1912, BAPTISTS OF ODEM ORGANIZED THEIR OWN CONGREGATION. REV. R. A.

  • Santa Margarita Crossing · 12.1 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Nueces County, passing the historic Santa Margarita Crossing. This spot on the Nueces River was a vital crossing on the old Matamoros Road, connecting Texas to Mexico. In 1831, the Mexican army…

  • Dunn, John, Jr., Homesite · 12.1 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the homesite of John Dunn, Jr., a man who helped shape early Nueces County. His father, John Dunn, Sr., a recent immigrant from Ireland, bought this land back in 1868. Young John Jr. grew up herding…

  • Corpus Christi College-Academy · 12.1 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of Corpus Christi College-Academy, a Catholic boys' school that opened its doors in the fall of 1928. It was established by Benedictine monks from Arkansas at the invitation of Bishop…

  • White Point/Rosita · 12.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through the historic White Point and Rosita area, a place with roots stretching back to Native American tribes and Spanish explorers. In the 1830s, Anglo settlers arrived, and by 1856, brothers Frank and…

  • Meansville and Kaleta · 12.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of Meansville, a community that met a violent end. In 1876, a shooting spree by three sons of Sheriff William Means led to the sheriff's own death. Fear gripped the town, and by the early…

  • Josepha Rodriguez · 12.8 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past San Patricio, where in 1863, a woman known as 'Chipita' was hanged for murder. Josepha Rodriguez, believed to be in her sixties, was the last woman legally executed in Texas until 1998. Despite…

  • San Patricio de Hibernia Monument · 12.8 mi · Scraped Hmdb

    This monument marks a town born from Irish dreams right here in Texas. In the 1830s, Irish immigrants, led by empresario James Power and James Hewetson, established the colony of San Patricio de Hibernia – St. Patrick…

  • Old Cemetery on the Hill · 12.8 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the Old Cemetery on the Hill, a burial ground used for generations by Native Americans and Mexican settlers before the Anglo colonists arrived. After San Patricio de Hibernia was founded in 1830,…

  • San Patricio de Hibernia · 12.9 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past San Patricio, founded in 1830 by Irish empresarios John McMullen and James McGloin. It was named for Ireland's patron saint. As a frontier outpost during the Texas Revolution, it suffered greatly. On…

  • Battle of San Patricio · 12.9 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through San Patricio, the site of a surprise attack during the Texas Revolution. In the pre-dawn hours of February 27, 1836, Mexican General Urrea's forces struck the town, killing 16 and taking 30…

  • Texas HS Baseball Leaders 2026: West Oso (Corpus Christi) · 12.9 mi

    West Oso (Corpus Christi, TX) placed on the 3A Texas high school baseball stat leaderboards for the 2026 season: Kendall Taylor (0.469 avg).

  • Graves from Lipantitlan and San Patricio · 12.9 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the Old Cemetery on the Hill, a place used for generations by native tribes and Mexican settlers before Anglo colonization. After San Patricio de Hibernia was founded in 1830, colonists continued to…

  • Old Cemetery on the Hill · 12.9 mi · Historical Marker

    This cemetery is believed to have been used for generations by Indian tribes and Mexican settlers who lived in this area previous to Anglo colonization. Following the establishment of San Patricio de Hibernia in 1830 by…

  • A Star in the Window, a Marker by the Road · 12.9 mi

    This road carries a Blue Star Memorial Highway designation, one of a string of them across Texas. The name comes from a family tradition. When someone in a household was serving in the armed forces, the family displayed…

  • Courthouses of San Patricio County · 12.9 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through San Patricio, the historic heart of San Patricio County. Since the early 1830s, eight different buildings have served as the county's seat of government. From a rough 'Log Courthouse' to a…

  • San Patricio County · 12.9 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through San Patricio County, a place with roots stretching back to Spanish exploration in the early 1500s. Irish colonists arrived in 1828, invited by a Mexican land grant. The county itself was created…

  • Sons of San Patricio Monument · 13.0 mi · Scraped Hmdb

    This monument behind me marks the final resting place of men who fought in a war with divided loyalties. The Sons of San Patricio, Irish immigrants who had previously served in the U.S. Army, switched sides to fight for…

  • Site of the Home of James McGloin · 13.0 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past Site of the Home of James McGloin. Born in County Sligo, Ireland - With John McMullen he secured a contract to settle 200 families August 17, 1828 - Landed his colonists at El Copano, 1830 - In 1834…

  • In Memory of Captain Thomas K. Pearson (Sons of San Patricio Monument) · 13.1 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the Sons of San Patricio Monument, a memorial to brave souls lost in the Texas Revolution. On February 27th, 1836, Captain Thomas K. Pearson and several other Texan volunteers were killed in action…

  • Dunn, Matthew · 13.1 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site where Matthew Dunn, an Irish immigrant, first settled in Corpus Christi. He was the first of five brothers to make their way to America, arriving in Texas in 1845 to join General Zachary…

  • Saint Patrick's Catholic Church · 13.1 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through San Patricio, home to Saint Patrick's Catholic Church. This place has seen some storms, both literal and figurative. Irish immigrants, brought here by empresarios John McMullen and James McGloin,…

  • Dougherty House, Old · 13.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of the Dougherty House, home to a remarkable educator. Robert Dougherty arrived in Texas as a refugee from the Irish famine in the 1840s. After working as a journalist and merchant, he…

  • Snapka Drive Inn · 13.5 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of the original Snapka's drive-inn, which opened in Robstown in 1948. Brothers Method and Rudy Snapka served hamburgers and Mexican dishes, quickly finding success. They later opened this…

  • Texas HS Baseball Playoff Leaders 2026: London (Corpus Christi) · 13.7 mi

    London (Corpus Christi) put 4 players on the statewide leaderboards of the 2026 Texas high school baseball playoffs. Aiden Salinas had 18 runs (3rd in the state), 11 stolen bases (5th in the state), and 3 home runs (4th…

  • Texas HS Baseball Playoff Hits 2026: London (Corpus Christi) · 13.7 mi

    London (Corpus Christi), TX placed on the Texas high school baseball PLAYOFF HITS leaderboard for the 2026 postseason: Christian Olivares (16 hits, #15 in TX).

  • Battle of Agua Dulce · 14.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of the Battle of Agua Dulce, a forgotten skirmish during the Texas Revolution. It's March 2nd, <say-as interpret-as="date" format="y">1836</say-as>, the very same day Texas declared its…

  • Saint John Baptist Church · 14.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Corpus Christi, and you're passing the site of Saint John Baptist Church. This congregation's story begins not here, but with a devastating hurricane in 1875 that wiped out Indianola. Survivors…

  • Grossman-Graham House · 14.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the Grossman-Graham House in Corpus Christi, a beautiful example of Spanish Colonial Revival architecture. This house was likely built around 1929, when the upscale Oak Park subdivision first opened.…

  • The Gas Boom · 14.6 mi

    In April 1928, a well drilled near here struck oil, opening up the Agua Dulce oilfield. The discovery changed everything. Before then, this was a quiet cotton town. Afterward, it became a key player in the South Texas…

  • Tapping the Gas Giant Below · 14.6 mi

    The ground beneath Agua Dulce holds a masterpiece of geological engineering. The immense Agua Dulce gas field isn't just one big bubble of gas; it's a complex system of stacked reservoirs. The key formations are the…

  • The Railroad That Built Agua Dulce · 14.6 mi

    If you see the railroad tracks running parallel to the highway, you're looking at one big reason Agua Dulce exists. That's the Texas Mexican Railway - the Tex-Mex - a narrow-gauge line that reached San Diego in 1879 and…

  • Brenan, William · 14.8 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through what was once the Republic of Texas, and right here, you might be passing near the route where a promising legislator met a grim end. William Brenan, an Irish immigrant who fought at San Jacinto…

  • O'Docharty, Susanna Dougharty · 14.8 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through San Patricio County, where Susanna Dougharty carved out a life on the Texas frontier. Arriving before 1831, she wasn't just a pioneer woman; she was a leader. Susanna was a prime mover behind the…

  • San Patricio County · 14.8 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through San Patricio County, a land with a rich past. Back in 1829, this area was chosen by empresarios John McMullen and James McGloin to establish a new home for 200 Irish Catholic families. These…

  • San Patricio, TX · 14.8 mi · Tsha Handbook

    San Patricio was founded in 1829 by the empresarios James McGloin and John McMullen after they received permission from the Mexican government on August 16, 1828, to settle 200 Irish Catholic families in Texas. After…

  • Fort Lipantitlan · 14.8 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Nueces County, not far from San Patricio. Right here, you're passing the site of Fort Lipantitlan, built around 1825. It wasn't much to look at – just an earthen embankment, described by one…

  • McMullen, John · 14.8 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through McMullen County, named for John McMullen, a man who helped bring the first Irish settlers to Texas. Right here, in 1828, McMullen and his partner James McGloin got the green light to bring 200…

  • Turner, John · 14.8 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through San Patricio, a town that played a role in the birth of Texas. Right here, John Turner, a lawyer and teacher, was a delegate to the Convention of 1836. He's one of the brave souls who signed the…

  • Miller, Samuel Reed · 14.8 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through South Texas, and right here, you're passing through the area where Samuel Reed Miller established a settlement that bore his name. Miller arrived in Texas in 1824, one of Stephen F. Austin's…

  • The Ghost of Chipita Rodriguez · 15.2 mi · Things to Do

    In 1863 Chipita Rodriguez was hanged for murder in San Patricio on almost no evidence — likely the real killer was a man. She cursed the town from the gallows.…

  • The Corpus Christi Doctor Who Founded the G I Forum · 15.3 mi

    In Corpus Christi, State Highway Two Eighty Six between State Highway Three Fifty Seven and Interstate Thirty Seven is the Dr. Hector P. Garcia Memorial Highway. Hector Perez Garcia was born in Tamaulipas, Mexico, in…

  • On this Site Stood Fort Lipantitlan · 15.5 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of Fort Lipantitlan, a key flashpoint in early Texas history. Established in 1831 by the Mexican army, its purpose was to halt Anglo-American settlement. But Texans weren't having it.…

  • F.Z. Bishop's Model Town · 15.6 mi

    You’re driving through a town that was designed on paper before a single brick was laid. F.Z. Bishop, a Corpus Christi insurance man, was obsessed with order and progress. When he platted his new city in 1910 on land…

  • Alchemy on the Prairie: The Chemistry of Celanese · 15.6 mi

    The Celanese plant near Bishop is a marvel of mid-20th century chemical engineering, and it’s still running today. Its purpose from the start was to take one simple, abundant resource—natural gas—and transform it into a…

  • Bishop, TX · 15.6 mi

    Bishop, Texas is located at the intersection of key transportation routes. The city is situated on U.S. Highway 77 (Interstate 69E) and Farm to Market Road 70. This strategic location connects Bishop to Kingsville, just…

  • Fort Lipantitlan · 15.8 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of Fort Lipantitlan, a Spanish and then Mexican military post established way back in 1728. It was a key point during the Texas Revolution, seeing action in 1835 when Texans captured it,…

  • One Mile Northeast is the Site of Fort Lipantitlan · 15.8 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Nueces County, not far from where the Mexican Army set up Fort Lipantitlan back in 1831. This place saw some action just four years later, when volunteers led by Captain Ira Westover captured it…

  • Galvan Ballroom · 15.9 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of the Galvan Ballroom, a Corpus Christi landmark established in 1950. Designed by architect Everett E. Hamon, this streamline moderne building was more than just a venue; it was a hub for…

  • Hebrew Rest Cemetery · 15.9 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past Hebrew Rest Cemetery, the final resting place for Corpus Christi's earliest Jewish settlers. Established in 1875, this burial ground was crucial for the community, which had previously sent their…

  • Kelsey Memorial Methodist Church · 16.0 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past Kelsey Memorial Methodist Church, a cornerstone of Corpus Christi's Hispanic community. Established in 1872 by Bishop John C. Keener with Rev. Alejo Hernandez as its first pastor, this church faced…

  • Moravian Club of Nueces County · 16.1 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through what used to be the Kostoryz community, named after Stanley L. Kostoryz, a Czech immigrant who left Nebraska in 1904. He bought this land, advertised it as 'Bohemian Colony Lands' in Czech…

  • López, Isidro Manuel [El Indio] · 16.2 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through South Texas, maybe near Bishop, where Isidro Manuel López, known as "El Indio," was born. López didn't just play music; he invented a whole new sound called 'Texachi' – blending Texas roots with…

  • Kinney, Henry Lawrence · 16.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past what used to be Henry Lawrence Kinney's trading post, the very spot that kicked off the city of Corpus Christi! Kinney, a Pennsylvania merchant, arrived here in 1838 and set up shop the next year.…

  • Villarreal, Captain Enrique, and Rincon del Oso Land Grant · 16.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past what was once the heart of a massive Texas land grant. Back in 1831, Captain Enrique Villarreal was awarded the Rincon del Oso grant, a whopping 44,000 acres, by the Mexican government. He'd actually…

  • Antonio E. Garcia · 16.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the legacy of Antonio E. Garcia, a truly inspiring Mexican American artist who shaped generations of art in Texas. Born in Mexico in 1901, Garcia and his sisters came to Texas in 1914 to escape the…

  • Bishop, TX · 16.2 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Bishop, Texas, a town that sprang up almost overnight in 1910. It wasn't just a few scattered buildings; F.Z. Bishop bought the land and laid out a modern town before the first lots were even…

  • Temple Beth El · 16.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the historic Temple Beth El in Corpus Christi. Jewish settlers arrived here shortly after the city was founded in 1852, with several becoming prominent leaders. By the 1870s, they had a Hebrew…

  • St. Paul Lutheran Church and School · 16.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of St. Paul Lutheran Church and School. Organized in 1911 by Wendish Lutherans, the congregation built its first church and used it as a schoolhouse during the week. The church and school…

  • The Queen of Corpus Christi · 16.3 mi

    In Corpus Christi, you are in the city that raised a legend: Selena Quintanilla-Pérez. She was born over in Lake Jackson, but her family landed here when she was a girl, and it was in this city and the dancehalls and…

  • The Blue Ghost on the Bay · 16.3 mi

    Dominating the view of the bay is a giant of naval history: the USS Lexington. This World War II-era aircraft carrier is impossible to miss. Commissioned in 1943, she fought in nearly every major operation in the…

  • Building a Bridge to the Future · 16.3 mi

    As you drive near the port, you can't help but notice the colossal structure rising into the sky, the new Harbor Bridge. This isn't just a bridge; it's a massive feat of modern engineering, built to solve a…

  • The Birth of Whataburger · 16.3 mi

    If you’re a fan of the Texas fast-food icon Whataburger, you’re at the source. The story began right here in Corpus Christi in 1950. An entrepreneur named Harmon Dobson had a bold idea: to make a burger so big and so…

  • The Fury of Hurricane Celia · 16.3 mi

    In August 1970, Corpus Christi was forever changed by Hurricane Celia. Unlike most hurricanes, which bring their worst destruction through flooding and storm surge, Celia was different. It was a monster of wind. As the…

  • The Army that Built a City · 16.3 mi

    In 1845, the small trading post of Corpus Christi was put on the map by the U.S. Army. As tensions rose with Mexico over the annexation of Texas, President Polk sent General Zachary Taylor and his Army of Occupation…

  • Bishop · 16.3 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past Bishop, Texas, a town that sprang to life in 1910 thanks to F.Z. Bishop. He bought this land and envisioned a model town, right on the railroad line. Bishop didn't just plan streets; he built an…

  • German POW Camp at Naval Air Station Corpus Christi · 16.3 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of a World War II German POW camp, right here at Naval Air Station Corpus Christi. After Germany surrendered in May 1945, hundreds of German prisoners arrived to build their own compound.…

  • Corpus Christi and the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway · 16.3 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past Corpus Christi, a city that became a vital player in World War II thanks to the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway. This canal, envisioned as early as 1905, linked its port to the East Coast, allowing over a…

  • Wynn Seale Junior High School · 16.3 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of Wynn Seale Junior High School, Corpus Christi's first school built specifically as a junior high. It was named for Edmund Wynn Seale, a prominent educator who had led schools across South…

  • St. John Lutheran Church · 16.3 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of St. John Lutheran Church. Organized in 1913 by thirteen local families, the congregation faced hardship. Their first sanctuary, built in 1917, was burned by the Ku Klux Klan in 1919 due…

  • First Baptist Church of Bishop · 16.3 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Bishop, where the First Baptist Church started back in 1911. Forty people met in Moser Hall to form the congregation, and they got their first building funded by a loan in 1912. This church even…

  • LULAC · 16.4 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Corpus Christi, right where a major force in American politics was born. Look around – this is the birthplace of LULAC, the League of United Latin American Citizens. In 1929, delegates met right…

  • Whataburger Number One · 16.4 mi · Things to Do

    Harmon Dobson opened the first Whataburger at Ayers and Staples in Corpus Christi on August 8 1950. He wanted to sell a burger so big you had to hold it with…

  • Solomon Coles (1844-1924) and Solomon Coles School · 16.4 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Corpus Christi, passing the site of the Solomon M. Coles Elementary School. Coles himself was an incredible figure, born into slavery in Virginia. Against all odds, a sheriff secretly taught him…

  • Felix von Blucher · 16.4 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Corpus Christi, passing the site where Felix von Blucher, a German immigrant, made his home. Arriving in Texas in 1845, he was an engineer, linguist, and lawyer who helped negotiate a vital treaty…

  • Site of Cheston L. Heath School · 16.4 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past Site of Cheston L. Heath School. The Corpus Christi Independent School District hired Miss Rose Dunne to teach English and academics to the city's Mexican American students in a year-long…

  • Centennial Memorial Museum · 16.4 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of the Centennial Memorial Museum in Corpus Christi. This building was part of a statewide celebration of Texas's 100th anniversary. Originally planned as a history, art, and science museum,…

  • First United Methodist Church of Bishop · 16.4 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of the First United Methodist Church of Bishop. Organized in 1911, the congregation faced challenges like drought and hurricanes but built their first church in 1912. A new, larger building…

  • Old Bayview Cemetery · 16.5 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past Old Bayview Cemetery, the oldest federal military cemetery in Texas. It was laid out by U.S. Army engineers back in 1845, right before the Mexican War. In fact, the very first burials here were…

  • Parker, Thomas S. · 16.5 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the burial site of Thomas S. Parker, a man who helped build Corpus Christi from the ground up. Born in Philadelphia in 1817, Parker arrived in Texas at twenty and soon after received huge land grants…

  • Explosion of the Steamship Dayton · 16.5 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past Corpus Christi, heading towards the coast. It's September 12th, 1845. Just months after Texas voted to join the U.S., tensions with Mexico are sky-high. General Zachary Taylor's troops are stationed…

  • William Henderson Maltby · 16.5 mi · Historical Marker

    You're cruising past the site of William Henderson Maltby's life in Corpus Christi. He was a journalist who helped run three local papers, but when the Civil War broke out, he traded his pen for a sword. He rose to…

  • James Downing · 16.5 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the area where James Downing made his mark. Born in England, he fought for the Union in the Civil War, enduring the horrors of Andersonville Prison before escaping. After the war, he served with the…

  • George Owens · 16.5 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past Corpus Christi, the final resting place of George Owens. Born enslaved in Kentucky, Owens seized the chance to fight for freedom, enlisting in the Union Army in <say-as interpret-as="date"…

  • John Dix · 16.5 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past Corpus Christi, where John Dix settled after a life of adventure. He fought in the War of 1812, was shipwrecked in New Zealand, and even founded a Michigan town named Dix. He served in the Texas…

  • William DeRyee · 16.5 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past William DeRyee. Chemist, geologist, and photographer William DeRyee was born as William D&#xFC;ry in W&#xFC;rzburg, Bavaria. He was educated at the Gymnasium and Lateinschule in W&#xFC;rzburg, then…

  • Matthew Nolan · 16.5 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past Matthew Nolan. After the death of their parents, Mary Nolan arrived in Corpus Christi in 1845 at the age of sixteen along with her two brothers, Matt, eleven, and Tom, nine. Mary became a nurse in…

  • General Zachary Taylor camped here · 16.5 mi · Scraped Hmdb

    Ever wondered where the first federal military cemetery in Texas is? You're almost there! This quiet hill holds the stories of soldiers and pioneers, marking a pivotal moment in Texas history. It all began during the…

  • Louis de Planque · 16.5 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the Corpus Christi studio of Louis de Planque, a Prussian immigrant who became a prominent photographer in South Texas. He captured images of Union and Confederate troops during the Civil War boom in…

  • Eli Todd Merriman · 16.5 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of early newspaper history in Corpus Christi. Eli Todd Merriman, born in 1852, started as a typesetter at just 18 for the Nueces Valley. He worked his way up, even to the Galveston News,…

  • West Sinton Community · 16.5 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past West Sinton Community. In the early days of the 20th century, the land in this area was situated within the large J. J. Welder Cattle Ranch. George Paul developed much of the local acreage and…

  • Stanley L. Kostoryz · 16.6 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past Stanley L. Kostoryz. The Bohemian Colony Lands, a vision of Sanley L. Kostoryz, changed the landscape of the Coastal Bend and drew Czech immigrants from central Texas and Nebraska to south Texas.…

  • Corpus Christi Cathedral · 16.6 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the Corpus Christi Cathedral, the second church to hold that title for the diocese. It replaced Saint Patrick's after a fire damaged it in 1938. The John G. Kenedy family donated this land, their…

  • Richard and Minerva King House · 16.6 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the Richard and Minerva King House, built in 1928 by Richard King, grandson of the famous rancher. This Italian Renaissance home, designed to withstand hurricanes, was built after King lost his…

  • Moses Menger Elementary School · 16.6 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past Moses Menger Elementary School, which opened in January 1929. This was the very first Corpus Christi school built outside the city's original center, helping to spark development on the south side.…

  • First Presbyterian Church of Corpus Christi · 16.6 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the First Presbyterian Church of Corpus Christi. This congregation started with just seven members back in 1867. Their first sanctuary, built right away, took a year to finish because a yellow fever…

  • Selena Memorial - Mirador de la Flor · 16.7 mi · Historical Marker

    Selena Quintanilla-Perez was born in this city in 1971 and became the biggest star Tejano music has ever produced. She started performing with her family band at age nine, singing in Spanish at her father's insistence…

  • LULAC Founding - Corpus Christi · 16.7 mi · Historical Marker

    The League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), the oldest Hispanic civil rights organization in the United States, was founded in Corpus Christi on February 17, 1929.

  • Selena Museum · 16.7 mi

    On Leopard Street, on the northwest edge of Corpus Christi, five dollars gets you into the room where the Queen of Tejano made her last music. The Selena Museum opened in 1998, in the building that held her recording…

  • Selena's death and the Corpus Christi seawall statue · 16.7 mi

    On the seawall at Corpus Christi Bay, there's a bronze statue of a young woman, and people leave flowers at her feet all year. Selena. She was twenty-three. In March of 1995, the person who ran her own fan club — its…

  • USS Lexington · 16.7 mi

    Berthed at Corpus Christi is an aircraft carrier that fought clear across the Pacific in World War Two — the USS Lexington, a floating museum now. The enemy called her the Blue Ghost, and they earned the name the hard…

  • The South Texas Weekend Barbacoa Ritual · 16.7 mi · Cultural Tradition

    In South Texas, weekend mornings belong to barbacoa. Saturdays and Sundays, the line forms before the sun is fully up — at meat markets, taquerias, and family-run carnicerias from the Rio Grande Valley up through…

  • Centennial House · 16.7 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past Centennial House, a survivor of Texas history right here in Corpus Christi. Built between 1849 and 1850 for Forbes Britton, a West Point grad and Mexican War veteran, this classical revival home saw…

  • Lone Star Fair · 16.7 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of the Lone Star Fair, a grand event that was part business, part revolution. In 1851, Corpus Christi founder Henry Kinney launched this fair, hoping to attract settlers and boost the…

  • Corpus Christi Lighthouse, Site of · 16.7 mi · Historical Marker

    You're cruising past the site of the old Corpus Christi Lighthouse! Back in the late 1850s, this spot was chosen for a beacon to guide ships into a new harbor. But war changed everything. During the Civil War,…

  • Kinney's Trading Post · 16.7 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past where Henry L. Kinney set up shop, right around 1836. This wasn't just a store; it was a fort-like trading post, complete with a stockade, a home, and quarters for armed men. Kinney traded with local…

  • Gold Star Court of Honor · 16.7 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the Corpus Christi Gold Star Court of Honor, the first memorial of its kind in Texas. Dedicated in 1931, it honors the mothers of Nueces County servicemen lost in World War I. Look for the flagpole…

  • Confederate Army Deserters Hanged in Corpus Christi · 16.7 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of a grim Civil War event in Corpus Christi. In May of <say-as interpret-as="date" format="y">1862</say-as>, two Confederate deserters were hanged here – the only military execution in…

  • Corpus Christi, TX · 16.7 mi

    Corpus Christi wouldn’t be what it is without the sea. It’s not just that laid-back coastal charm you feel in the air, but the very foundation of the city’s economy. The deepwater port, naturally sheltered by the bay,…

  • Broadway Bluff Improvement · 16.7 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of Corpus Christi's Broadway Bluff, a project that transformed the city's landscape. After 1900, as Corpus Christi boomed, this bluff marked a clear line between uptown and downtown. In…

  • Grande - Grossman House · 16.7 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the Grande-Grossman House, a beautiful blend of architectural styles and immigrant heritage. Built in 1904 for Benito Grande, a prominent leader in Corpus Christi's Mexican-American community, this…

  • Nueces County · 16.7 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Nueces County, named for the 'River of Nuts' that forms its northern border. This area has seen history unfold since 1519, when Spanish explorer Pineda briefly paused here. Spain even founded Fort…

  • Lawrence, Theodore Merchant · 16.7 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the home and farm of Theodore Merchant 'Buddy' Lawrence, a Corpus Christi native who made a big impact on local industry. After working on the King Ranch and as a hunter, Lawrence turned to farming…

  • Nueces County Courthouse of 1914 · 16.7 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of Corpus Christi's 1914 courthouse, a grand, neoclassical structure that cost a quarter-million dollars. Its architect also designed the International and Great Northern Railroad station in…

  • John Bernard Murphy · 16.7 mi · Historical Marker

    You're cruising through Corpus Christi, passing the spot where John Bernard Murphy, an Irish immigrant, made his mark. He fought in the Mexican-American War, served as chief justice and district attorney, and then, as…

  • French - Galvan House · 16.7 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the French-Galvan House, a beautiful example of Colonial Revival architecture. Built between 1907 and 1908 for Asa Milton French, a surveyor and civic leader who settled here in 1882, this home has…

  • Saint Patrick's Church · 16.7 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Corpus Christi, and you're passing the site of what was once St. Patrick's Church. It began in 1853 with just 19 families and Father Bernard O'Reilly leading construction on the city's first…

  • Corpus Christi Fire Department · 16.7 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Corpus Christi, where the fire department got its start back in 1871. A fire at a local home prompted citizens to organize, raising money for equipment and forming the Pioneer No. 1 Company. They…

  • Corpus Christi Caller-Times · 16.7 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the birthplace of a Corpus Christi institution: the Caller-Times newspaper. Its story began way back on January 21, 1883, with the first issue of the 'Caller.' Over the years, it merged with other…

  • Church of the Good Shepherd Episcopal · 16.7 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of Corpus Christi's first Episcopal church, the Church of the Good Shepherd. Episcopal services here began as early as 1857, but the congregation wasn't formally organized until 1860. After…

  • Port of Corpus Christi, Early History of · 16.8 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past Corpus Christi, where the bay waters were once a smuggler's paradise before the Texas Revolution. It wasn't until Henry L. Kinney opened a trading post around 1838 that commercial activity really…

  • Mother Margaret Mary Healy Murphy · 16.8 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the birthplace of Mother Margaret Mary Healy Murphy, a remarkable woman born in Ireland in <say-as interpret-as="date" format="y">1833</say-as>. She immigrated to America, eventually settling in…

  • Artesian Park & Sulphur Well · 16.8 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Corpus Christi, and you're passing the site of a historic park and a very special well. Back in 1845, General Zachary Taylor set up camp here with 4,000 U.S. troops, including three future…

  • First Methodist Church of Corpus Christi · 16.8 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of the First Methodist Church of Corpus Christi. Methodists were holding services here as early as <say-as interpret-as="date" format="y">1846</say-as>, right before the Mexican-American…

  • Sidbury House · 16.8 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past what was once a rent house, built around 1893 by Charlotte Scott Sidbury. She was a remarkable woman, arriving in Texas before the Revolution, managing a lumber company, and even becoming a bank…

  • Guaranty Title Company · 16.8 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Corpus Christi, where the story of land ownership in Southwest Texas took a crucial turn. After the vast ranches were broken up in the early 1900s, sorting out land titles, many stemming from old…

  • Simon Gugenheim House · 16.8 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the Simon Gugenheim House, a testament to Corpus Christi's early success. Simon Gugenheim arrived in 1882 with just forty dollars, but he stayed and built a fortune. He co-founded a drygoods company,…

  • Spohn, Arthur Edward, M.D. and Spohn Hospital · 16.8 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of Spohn Hospital in Corpus Christi, a place with roots stretching back to the late 1800s. Dr. Arthur Edward Spohn, born in Canada, arrived on the Texas coast in 1868. He served as a U.S.…

  • McCampell House · 16.8 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of the McCampbell House, a home that stood right on the edge of Corpus Christi Bay. It was built in 1908 by Mary Alice Ward McCampbell, an Irish immigrant who purchased land in the old…

  • Sidbury - Savage House · 16.8 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the Sidbury-Savage House, a Greek Revival beauty with a story tied to Corpus Christi's growth. Edward Sidbury arrived in <say-as interpret-as="date" format="y">1867</say-as>, opening a lumber…

  • The Ranchero · 16.8 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past Corpus Christi, where a newspaper called The Ranchero once served as a voice for the Confederacy. Founded in 1859 by Henry Alonzo Maltby, who'd arrived in town as a circus promoter, this four-page…

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