Port of Corpus Christi
| Port Corpus Christi | |
|---|---|
| Location | |
| Country | United States |
| Location | Port Corpus Christi, Texas |
| Coordinates | 27°48′46″N 97°24′26″W / 27.81278°N 97.40722°W |
| Details | |
| Opened | September 14, 1926 |
| Executive Director | John LaRue |
| Statistics | |
|
Website portofcorpuschristi |
|
Port of Corpus Christi is the eighth-largest port in the United States in total tonnage. Port Corpus Christi is located on Corpus Christi Bay in the western Gulf of Mexico, with a straight 45-foot-deep (14 m) channel. The port is located close to downtown Corpus Christi in Nueces County, Texas, but the port is not part of the city or the county. Port Corpus Christi operates without receiving any city, county, or state tax dollars. It is governed by an unpaid board of seven citizens, three of whom are appointed by the Nueces County Commissioners Court, one by the San Patricio County Commissioners Court, and three by the Corpus Christi City Council. Port Corpus Christi handles over 6,000 vessels and over 80,000,000 tons of cargo annually. Environmental initiatives are handled through the port's Environmental Management System (EMS). To fight crime and terrorism, public safety at Port Corpus Christi is handled by the Port Corpus Christi Police Department and its state-of-the-art security center.
The need to build a deep-water port for Corpus Christi was realized after the devastating hurricane of September 14, 1919. Local business leaders realized that a deep-water port was a necessary catalyst to the local economy. Construction of Port Corpus Christi began. On September 14, 1926, seven years to the day after the devastating hurricane, an official "statewide" celebration of the opening of the Port was held. At that time, the three navigation commissioners were Robert Driscoll, Chairman, John W. Kellam of Robstown, and W.W. Jones. The first port commission was appointed in 1923 with three members. In 1973, a special act of the legislature increased the number of commissioners to five, and in 1983, another special act of the legislature increased the number to seven. In the early days of the port, cotton was king. Nueces County and surrounding counties were among the state's leaders in cotton production. Four cargo docks were ready when the port opened. The use of the port from its opening was so great, after only two years in 1928, the port went to the people with an issue of an additional $1,500,000 in bonds to build two more cargo docks. In 1930, the channel was deepened to 30 feet. In the early 1930s, large oil fields were discovered in San Patricio, Nueces, and neighboring counties. Refineries began to locate along the port. From the mid-1930s, the major portion of the tonnage moved through the port shifted from cotton to petroleum and petroleum products. In 1985, the Port of Corpus Christi was designated as a foreign trade zone (FTZ) and in 1986, the agreements were entered into with the first two users. The port's FTZ has subzones which include portions of the facilities of most of the refineries near the Port of Corpus Christi. A channel depth of 45 ft reached La Quinta Channel in 1975. By 1989, the 45-ft depth reached through the inner harbor, giving Corpus Christi the deepest waterway of any port in the Gulf of Mexico at the time. The late 80's and early 90's brought diversification efforts to enhance the economic foundation of the port by attracting new cargoes, including steel products, projects, refrigerated cargoes, military equipment, cruise ships, forest products, automobiles, containers, and more.
...
Wikipedia