Nueces Bay
| Nueces Bay | |
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Nueces Bay from Space
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| Location | South Texas Gulf Coast |
| Coordinates | 27°51′02″N 97°25′58″W / 27.85056°N 97.43278°WCoordinates: 27°51′02″N 97°25′58″W / 27.85056°N 97.43278°W |
| River sources | Nueces River |
| Ocean/sea sources | Gulf of Mexico |
| Basin countries | United States |
| Settlements | Corpus Christi, Portland |
Nueces Bay is a northwestern extension of Corpus Christi Bay in the San Patricio and Nueces counties of Texas. The bay is fed by the Nueces River, forming a natural estuary, which renders it ecologically and economically vital to the surrounding area. It serves as a habitat for the propagation of fish and shellfish, which sustain diverse species of birds and other wildlife. The bay is threatened by pollution from the heavy industry on its southern shore, which prevents oyster farming. Petrochemical production and oil are important to the surrounding economies of the major settlements of Corpus Christi and Portland, found on the eastern shore and connected by the Nueces Bay Causeway at the bay's confluence with Corpus Christi Bay.
Agriculture dominates the northern shore, where many plots of land are still owned by the descendants of early settlers. The largely abandoned historical communities of Rosita and West Portland are also located in this area. To the west, the Odem Bay extension is formed, and is fed by Rincon Bayou and a large complex of marsh formed by the Nueces River delta. Just south of the mouth, are the remains of the abandoned Nuecestown settlement, which is now included in the Corpus Christi city limits.
Nueces Bay formed approximately 9,000 years ago, as the sea level rose at the conclusion of the last ice age. The sea level stabilized 6,000 years later, shaping the present-day Nueces Bay. The first human inhabitants were the nomadic Aransas Indians, who settled between the Copano and Baffin bays about 8,000 years ago, until 1300 CE. In the next century, the Karankawa Indians arrived, and were present when Europeans came ashore.
Nueces is Spanish for "nuts", and refers to the pecan trees that grew along the banks of the Nueces River, noted by Spanish explorer Alonso De León in 1689. It is unclear when the name was given to the bay; it was called San Miguel Arcángel by Spanish captain Joaquín de Orobio y Basterra in 1747, and an 1835 map of Texas identified it as Papelote or "wastepaper" Bay. It appears to have been first noted on a Spanish map in 1527 as the mouth of the Río Escondido or hidden river, which is believed to be the Nueces. French explorer René Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle sailed into the bay in 1685, mistakenly believing it was the Mississippi River. Spanish colonial governor José de Escandón planned a villa on the mouth of the Nueces River named Villa de Vedoya. Fifty families were sent the site in 1749, but failed to establish a settlement, due to a lack of sufficient supplies. Later that century, missionaries discussed the possibility of moving Nuestra Señora del Refugio Mission to the site, but decided against the idea due to conflict with the Lipan Apaches. Germans attempted to settle the same area, but were turned away by the French during the Pastry War in the 1830s. The next decade, a colony for freed slaves was proposed by abolitionist Benjamin Lundy, who had to cancel after the outbreak of the Texas Revolution.
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Wikipedia