Corpus Christi, Texas

Corpus Christi is a major deep-water port and one of Texas' most popular seacoast playground cities. The first European to have visited the area is believed to have been Spanish explorer, Alonzo de Piñeda in 1519. The first settlement began as frontier trading post founded in 1839, by impresario-colonizer Col. Henry Lawrence Kinney; it was an obscure settlement until about 1845 when accelerated growth finally began.

Seawall, with steps to the water, was built in the late 1930s as part of a major landfill that created the 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. Institutions of higher learning are Del Mar College and Texas A&M—Corpus Christi.

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 the nucleus of the park, which is lighted at night.