Where Texas Meets the Sea

A favorite destination of visitors to the Texas coast, Corpus Christi is a midsize city that manages to be both cosmopolitan and provincial, networked and local. It is an indispensable provider of urban services to South Texas, as well as a port of international significance. Its industries and military bases and, increasingly, its coastal research institutes give it a range of connections throughout North America. Despite these advantages, however, Corpus Christi has never made it into the first rank of Texas cities, and a keen self-consciousness about the city?s subordinate position has driven debates over Corpus?s identity and prospects for decades. In this masterful urban history?a study that will reshape the way that Texans look at all their cities?Alan Lessoff analyzes Corpus Christi?s place within Texas, the American Southwest, the western Gulf of Mexico, and the U.S.-Mexican borderlands from the city?s founding in 1839 to the present. He portrays Corpus as a place where westward Anglo expansion overwhelmed the Hispanic settlement process from the south, leaving a legacy of conflicting historical narratives that colors the city?s character even now. Lessoff also explores how