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as the longest sand
beach in the United States. The north end is just east of Corpus Christi (at
27°37' N, 97°14' W), and the south end is opposite Port Isabel (at 26°05' N,
97°08' W). The island is separated from the mainland by the Laguna Madreqv
and connected to the mainland at each end by causeways. It is divided by the
dredged Port Mansfield Channel,qv which
provides shipping access to the Gulf Intracoastal Waterwayqv
and to Port Mansfield from the Gulf of Mexico. Padre Island comprises a total of
133,918 acres in Nueces, Kleberg, Willacy, Cameron, and Kenedy counties. A belt
of dunes twenty-five to forty feet high runs along the Gulf side of the island.
Nowhere is the island more than three miles wide. The island was formed by the
slow, ongoing process of sea erosion and deposition. A large variety of shells
has been washed ashore on the island, and other objects from rivers and from the
Gulf have been deposited in fine silt and sand on the island. The result is a
treasure hunter's paradise. The Sigsbee Deep, the deepest part of the Gulf of
Mexico, is situated off the central part of the island. It is an abyss 300 miles
long, 100 miles wide, and 12,000 feet deep. More than 272 varieties of saltwater
fish have been identified in the Sigsbee Deep, a favorite site for fishermen.
Padre Island first appears as a dot labeled Isla Blanca on a map by Alonzo Álvarez de Pinedaqv in 1519. Since that time
the island has been known by various names: Isla de San Carlos de las Malaguitas,
Isla Corpus Christi, Isla del Padre Ballí, Ysla del Vallín, Isla de Bayán (Vallín
and Bayán are variations of Ballí), and Isla de Santiago. Indians of the Archaic period are
believed to have lived on the island from 2700 to 1000 B.C. They were
followed by Karankawan and Coahuiltecan peoples of the Rockport culture, who
visited the island seasonally until the mid-1800s. In 1554 four ships sailed
from Veracruz for Spain. They encountered storms, and three of the four were
cast up on Padre Island at about the location of the present Mansfield
Channel (see PADRE ISLAND SPANISH SHIPWRECKS OF 1554). The first
known land grant on the island is believed to have been given to Padre José
Nicolás Ballíqv and h
is nephew José Ballí
II in 1805. They established Rancho Santa Cruz de Buena Vista some
twenty-four miles from the south end of the island. Their grant was
perfected by the Mexican state of Tamaulipas on February 21, 1829. Capt.
John V. Singerqv and his family were
shipwrecked on Padre Island in 1847. They built a home on the site of the
old Ballí ranch and ranched there until the Civil War.qv
In spite of the independence of Texas in 1836 and statehood in 1847 Padre
Island remained a possession of Mexico until the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgoqv
in 1848. The state of Texas subsequently relinquished all rights on the
island to Nicolás and Juan José Ballí, on February 10, 1852. In 1879 Patrick
Dunn, the "Duke of Padre," was living on the island. He gradually acquired
title to all but 7,500 acres of the south end, then sold his interests in
1926 to Samuel A. Robertson,qv who
attempted to develop the south end into a beach drive. Robertson's two
hotels and four houses were destroyed by the hurricane of 1933 (see
HURRICANES), and the developer sold his interests to Albert and Frank Jones
of Kansas City, Missouri, in 1939. In the 1940s oil was discovered offshore,
and gas was discovered on the island. In the 1950s oil and gas leases were
negotiated on what is now the National Seashore.
Padre Island is a biological wonder with more than 600 species of plants and wildflowers. A unique species of oily live oak tree (Quercus fusiformis) grows only on the island. Blacktail jackrabbits, ground squirrels, kangaroo rats, coyotes, and eastern moles are among the many animals on Padre. The Laguna Madre is noted for its astronomical numbers of waterfowl. Herons, ibis, egrets, spoonbills, pelicans, cormorants, ducks, and geese use the island and the lagoons as a sanctuary and breeding ground. In 1991 the island was divided into three distinct areas: north, central, and south. The north is devoted to residential, water-oriented, recreational development. In 1962 the central portion became Padre Island National Seashore,qv which is in its natural state except at Malaquite Beach. The south part has been developing rapidly since the 1970s as a resort area; the town of South Padre Island was incorporated in 1973. All of Padre Island is susceptible to tropical storm damage. Between 1900 and 1979 eleven tropical storms struck the island, an average of one every 7.1 years. Historically, developments have been hard to maintain against storm surge, flooding, and wind and wave erosion.
South Padre
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