About Opentopia
Opentopia Directory Encyclopedia Tools

Corpus Christi, Texas

Encyclopedia : C : CO : COR : Corpus Christi, Texas

Corpus Christi is the county seat of Nueces County[Geographic references#6GR6] and a coastal city located in the U.S. state of Texas. It is part of the region known as South Texas. The name means "body of Christ" in Latin. As of the 2000 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 277,454 people (though a July 1, 2004 estimate placed the population at 281,196), making it the eighth-largest city in the state. The translation of the city's name is Body of Christ, given to the settlement by the Spanish, in honour of the Blessed Sacrament (Eucharist).

The city is often referred to as "The Sparkling City by the Sea," particularly in literature promoting tourism. Locals and natives often just call it Corpus. Since 2003, the city has earned numerous awards including:

The city is home to Naval Air Station Corpus Christi. Corpus Christi is served by the Corpus Christi International Airport on the west side of the city.

Contents

Geography

Corpus Christi is located at [27°44′34″N, 97°24′7″W] (27.742857, -97.401927)[Geographic references#1GR1].

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 1,192.0 km² (460.2 mi²). 400.5 km² (154.6 mi²) of it is land and 791.5 km² (305.6 mi²) of it (66.40%) is water. Drinking water for the city is supplied by two reservoirs, Lake Corpus Christi and the Choke Canyon Reservoir. Both reservoirs are outside the city limits, but are managed directly by public utility of the City of Corpus Christi.

Demographics

As of the census[Geographic references#2GR2] of 2000, there were 277,454 people, 98,791 households, and 70,437 families residing in the city. The population density was 692.7/km² (1,794.2/mi²). There were 107,831 housing units at an average density of 269.2/km² (697.3/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 71.62% White, 4.67% African American, 0.64% Native American, 1.28% Asian, 0.08% Pacific Islander, 18.58% from other races, and 3.13% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 54.33% of the population.

There were 98,791 households out of which 36.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.9% were married couples living together, 15.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 28.7% were non-families. 23.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 7.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.75 and the average family size was 3.27.

In the city the population was spread out with 28.1% under the age of 18, 10.6% from 18 to 24, 29.2% from 25 to 44, 21.0% from 45 to 64, and 11.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 33 years. For every 100 females there were 95.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.2 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $36,414, and the median income for a family was $41,672. Males had a median income of $31,863 versus $22,616 for females. The per capita income for the city was $17,419. About 14.1% of families and 17.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 22.9% of those under age 18 and 15.5% of those age 65 or over. Average rents in Corpus Christi in 2005 were $599 for a one bedroom apartment, and $769 for a two bedroom apartment.

People and culture

Corpus Christi is or was home to these celebrities: the actors Eva Longoria, Farrah Fawcett, Lou Diamond Phillips, Lori Singer, Marc Singer, and Dabney Coleman; the musicians and singers Danny Lohner (of Nine Inch Nails), Selena Quintanilla, Freddy Fender, Justin Puente AKA Really Really Big Man, Sam Neely, and Jim Heath (of The Reverend Horton Heat); game show host Allen Ludden; the sports figures Raymond Berry (NFL Hall of Famer), Brian Leetch (NHL player), NASCAR drivers Terry Labonte and brother Bobby Labonte (the only brothers to each win a Winston Cup title, Labonte Park on the north side of town is named for them); Mexican-American activist Dr. Héctor Pérez García; Marshall Applewhite (leader of the Heaven's Gate cult); and local newscaster & Guinness record holder Walter Furley. Saffir-Simpson hurricane scale codeveloper Robert Simpson is also from Corpus Christi. In fact, he was nearly killed by a hurricane in Corpus Christi, which sparked his interest in meteorology. Corpus Christi is also the hometown to the fast-food restaurant Whataburger.

The city is home to the Corpus Christi Hooks of the AA-Baseball Texas League.

The Corpus Christi Caller-Times is the local paper of record.

Local attractions

Various sections of Corpus Christi maintain distinct senses of identity and community from the city proper, especially the Calallen and Flour Bluff areas, and, less prominently, Clarkwood and Annaville. These areas are sometimes mistakenly believed to be separate municipalities.

The city is home to a number of popular destinations for both tourists and residents. In the southeast part of the city, near the Pharaoh Valley subdivision, is the Hans A. Suter Wildlife Area. It is on the western shore of the Cayo del Oso and is considered to be one of the best sea bird watching areas in the world. The nearby Pharaohs Golf Club course also serves as a haven for migratory birds. Some of the most visited attractions are probably on North Beach, where the Texas State Aquarium and the USS Lexington Museum on the Bay are located. Nearby is Corpus Christi's museum district. Located there are the Museum of Asian Cultures, Corpus Christi Museum of Science and History, the South Texas Museum of Art, and the Harbor Playhouse theatre, one of the oldest continually operating community theatres in the State. Heritage Park is also in the museum district, where a number of older restored houses can be found. The downtown area, of which the museum district is a part, is home to skyscrapers, companies, various shops, a very popular center of marinas, and Mirador de la Flor. Also in the city is the Corpus Christi Botanical Garden which hosts gardening programs from time to time.

Directly east of Corpus Christi are Padre Island and Mustang Island, home to various municipal, state, and national parks, most notably Padre Island National Seashore. The city is also near King Ranch, one of the world's largest ranches, upon which the movie Giant was based.

South Padre Island Drive (locally abbreviated as "S.P.I.D.", with the letters pronounced individually), is the city's main retail corridor, with two shopping malls facing each other and a number of large shopping centers, small strip centers, and scores of restaurants of various kinds.

Education

Colleges and universities

Corpus Christi is home to several institutions of higher learning: Del Mar College, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi (formerly known by the following three names: Corpus Christi State University (CCSU), Texas A&I University at Corpus Christi, and University of Corpus Christi, but now a component of the Texas A&M University System), Our Lady of Corpus Christi, a private, Roman Catholic university, a branch of the Coastal Bend College education program, and numerous vocational schools including Southern Careers Institute and Vogue Cosmetology School.

Del Mar College [link] is a local community college begun in the 1940's at a location behind Wynn Seale Jr. H. S. The main campus began with the administration building which was constructed after WWII on Del Mar. The college grew to encompass a good portion of a residental addition called Southmoreland built from the Bohemian farm lands in the late 1930s. Del Mar now includes a West campus located in area of Corpus Christi that once was Cliff Maus Airport.

Schools

Five school districts provide primary and secondary education for area residents: Corpus Christi Independent School District, Calallen ISD, Flour Bluff ISD, Tuloso-Midway ISD, and West Oso ISD. The Roman Catholic Diocese of Corpus Christi provides the primary and secondary education for Catholic schools.

See also

Local Media

Magazine Newspaper Local Television

External links
State of Texas
Texas Topics | History | Republic of Texas | Geography | Government | Politics | Economy | Texans
Capital Austin

Regions 		Arklatex | Big Bend | Brazos Valley | Central Texas | Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex | Deep East Texas | East Texas | Edwards Plateau | Galveston Bay | Golden Triangle | Greater Houston | North Texas | Northeast Texas | Permian Basin | Piney Woods | Rio Grande Valley | Texas Hill Country | Texas Panhandle | Llano Estacado | Southeast Texas | South Texas | West Texas

Metropolitan areas 		Abilene | Amarillo | Austin–Round Rock | Beaumont–Port Arthur | Brownsville–Harlingen | Bryan–College Station | Corpus Christi | Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington | El Paso | Houston–Sugar Land–Baytown | Killeen–Temple | Laredo | Longview–Marshall | Lubbock | McAllen–Edinburg–Mission | Midland–Odessa | San Angelo | San Antonio | Sherman–Denison | Texarkana | Tyler | Victoria | Waco | Wichita Falls
See also: List of Texas counties

 

From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.

Search Titles
0123456789
ABCDEFGHIJ
KLMNOPQRST
UVWXYZ?

E-mail this article to:

Personal Message: