Ward Island (Texas)

Ward Island is a small body of land situated at the confluence of Corpus Christi Bay and Oso Bay and is part of the city of Corpus Christi, Texas. Essentially all of Ward Island is now used by Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi.

More correctly classed as a peninsula, Ward Island is connected to the Corpus Christi shoreline by about 1,500 ft (460 m) of wetland. It is roughly triangular in shape, some 5,000 ft (1,500 m) long across the front and 2,500 ft (760 m) average depth, giving approximately 240 acres (0.97 km²) in useful size, or 259 acres (1.04 km²) counting the wetland. The soil is clay, formed by erosion, contrasted to sand islands formed by deposition. Its maximum elevation is only about 15 ft (4.6 m) above the sea-level of Corpus Christi Bay. A causeway (Ocean Drive) connects the island to the Corpus Christi shore, then extends beyond the island to the opposite side of Oso Bay and the Naval Air Station Corpus Christi at Flour Bluff about 1.0 mi (1.6 km) away.

Originally called "Island A," it was later named for land developer John C. Ward, who obtained the island in 1892. His plans were to develop the habitual area into an exclusive resort community, but the plans were crushed during a depression in 1893; the island, however, still became a popular fishing and hunting site. In 1909, W. E. James and Herman Anderson purchased the land and put up a few rustic shelters as a sportsman business; this remained until the 1940s.

With war looming, the United States Congress directed that the U.S. Navy develop an air training facility in the Corpus Christi Bay vicinity. A huge area of land was acquired at Flour Bluff about 10-mile (16 km) south of downtown Corpus Christi. Construction of Naval Air Station Corpus Christi (NASCC) started in June 1940, and the base was dedicated on 12 March 1941. A major highway was built to the east end of the base, and, for a second entrance, the existing Ocean Drive causeway that passed by Ward Island was improved.

Immediately following the start of World War II, the Navy initiated a major program to train highly qualified technicians to maintain the myriad of electronic systems, particularly radar, that was urgently needed. The then-uninhabited Ward Island was selected as the site of an advanced school for airborne electronics maintenance.

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