Corpus Christi

Discovered and dubbed Corpus Christi (literally, "body of Christ") in the early 1500s, the town languished under heavy-handed pirates for more than three centuries until the settlement finally emerged as Kinney’s Trading post in 1839. Seven years later, the city reverted to its original name, citing the need for "a more specific postmark." During the next few decades, arrival of the railroads and construction of a deepwater port fueled Corpus Christi’s expansion as a trade center for cotton, cattle, and oil. Today, the town of approximately 300,000 is still a coastal-based economy as the sixth-largest port in the United States, where more than 6 million visitors a year come to relax and enjoy the Texas coast lifestyle.