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Corpus Christi History
James Henderson Roark, Truck Farmer
The past 150 years of Corpus Christi history are written in the lives of the people who came because of the possibilities they saw here. It begins in the 19th century with Henry Kinney’s dreams for the “Naples of the Gulf” and the possibilities envisioned by Europeans drawn here by the chance to own land. After the Civil War, Easterners such as Uriah Lott and Elihu Ropes came and saw new possibilities. They built railroads and dredged the port to move people and goods throughout South Texas and the Gulf, making the city a center for regional transportation. In the 20th century, tourism became the next possibility, luring people to visit the healthful sea breezes of the coast. The dreams of Walter Timon and others for improving city infrastructure, with breakwaters, the seawall, and a deepwater port were slowly brought to reality. The expansion of the petroleum industry and the growth of dry land agriculture opened the next chapter, once again bringing people here for the possibilities. Finally, the opening of the Naval Air Station, the development of modern air transport, and the rise of organizations such as LULAC tied Corpus Christi firmly to the rest of the nation and to the world.
Click Image to Enlarge		 The past 150 years of Corpus Christi history are written in the lives of the people who came because of the possibilities they saw here. It begins in the 19th century with Henry Kinney’s dreams for the “Naples of the Gulf” and the possibilities envisioned by Europeans drawn here by the chance to own land. After the Civil War, Easterners such as Uriah Lott and Elihu Ropes came and saw new possibilities. They built railroads and dredged the port to move people and goods throughout South Texas and the Gulf, making the city a center for regional transportation.
In the 20th century, tourism became the next possibility, luring people to visit the healthful sea breezes of the coast. The dreams of Walter Timon and others for improving city infrastructure, with breakwaters, the seawall, and a deepwater port were slowly brought to reality. The expansion of the petroleum industry and the growth of dry land agriculture opened the next chapter, once again bringing people here for the possibilities. Finally, the opening of the Naval Air Station, the development of modern air transport, and the rise of organizations such as LULAC tied Corpus Christi firmly to the rest of the nation and to the world. View of the T Heads, Corpus Christi
n the 20th century, tourism became the next possibility, luring people to visit the healthful sea breezes of the coast. The dreams of Walter Timon and others for improving city infrastructure, with breakwaters, the seawall, and a deepwater port were slowly brought to reality. The expansion of the petroleum industry and the growth of dry land agriculture opened the next chapter, once again bringing people here for the possibilities. Finally, the opening of the Naval Air Station, the development of modern air transport, and the rise of organizations such as LULAC tied Corpus Christi firmly to the rest of the nation and to the world.
Click Image to Enlarge
Power Point Presentation of McGregor Photos

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