Corpus Christi, Texas
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Corpus Christi, Texas |
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The Corpus Christi area was originally inhabited by the Karankawa peoples and other Native Americans. Early inhabitants of the Southwest Region relied heavily on hunting. As livestock died out, groups emigrated north from Mexico, bringing farming techniques to the region. Towns and communities developed around the agricultural production, building terraced stone or adobe apartments around central plazas. Eventually, these towns would lose their autonomy, to be dominated by Spain, then Mexico, then the United States. |
| General Zachary Taylor, who later became the 12th president of the United States when he was inaugurated in 1849. Gained national fame for his leadership as an army general during the Mexican War in 1847. At the Battle of Buena Vista, Taylor's 5000-soldier force won a decisive victory after it was attacked by about 20,000 Mexican troops. |
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Corpus Christi was incorporated as a city in 1852, and grew as a farming and ranching center. Beginning in 1862, during the American Civil War, the port was blockaded by Union gunboats, and it fell to Union troops in November 1863. |
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The construction of a deepwater channel to the Gulf of Mexico in 1926 opened the port to oceangoing vessels and spurred the growth of industry. The city is named for Corpus Christi Bay, which, tradition holds, was sighted and named by Spanish explorer Alonso Alvarez de Piņeda on the feast day of Corpus Christi in 1519. Corpus Christi covers a land area of a little over 134 sq. mi., with a mean elevation of 35 ft. |
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