The Tarpon Club of Texas
In 1899, the Tarpon Club of Texas was the most expensive, and exclusive club the world had ever seen. E.H.R. “Ned” Green located the club on St. Joseph Island adjacent to Aransas Pass. Its membership was dubbed the “First Four Hundred Sportsmen of America,” a privileged group with “more politicians and businessmen that in any other similar organization in the United States” and whose “wealth combined reaches into the hundred-millions.” Tarpon Club members killed so many ducks that sharks congregated in the shallows near Harbor Island to gorge on downed birds before they could be retrieved. In their pursuit of the tarpon – the silver king – club members smashed records and set standards in the nascent sport of big game fishing. It was America’s gilded sporting era. When Ned Green opened the Tarpon Club in 1899 it was the most expensive, expansive, and exclusive club in the world. Green selected the location for his club on the sand flats of St. Joseph Island, a barrier island at the edge of the Gulf of Mexico, adjacent to the Aransas Pass, in the Coastal Bend of Texas. It was one of the nation’s last remaining strongholds for huge numbers of wintering waterfowl, and the remainder of the year it was rivaled by only Florida as the country’s most prolific tarpon and big-game fishing destination. The two-story clubhouse that rose from the sand was constructed of cypress and pine, and encompassed over 12,000 square feet, its exterior colors a contrast of gleaming white against bold green window trimmings and a red-shingled roof. The first floor housed private offices, billiard rooms, kitchen, dining rooms, and a dance hall, with a large open veranda. On the second floor were 18 sleeping rooms, servant quarters, and a parlor “fitted up with an especial view of making ladies comfortable.” Copper screens covered each door and window. An electrical plant that powered 126 “incandescent lamps” provided a “bewildering and beautiful” spectacle that could be seen for miles....
Zachary Taylor’s Army in Texas
Zachary Taylor brought half of the entire U. S. Army from all over the United States to Corpus Christi, Texas in the summer of 1845. The nearly 4,000 troops were there to protect the U. S. claim to Texas lands extending all the way to the Rio Grande River. During their stay in the settlement of Corpus Christi the army was molded into a cohesive fighting force, which marched south to the border. There the army was attacked by superior Mexican forces. Taylor’s troops won lopsided victories at Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma and then occupied Matamoras without opposition. 232 pages with 25 photos and maps.
1919 Storm
A powerful hurricane devastated Corpus Christi on September 14, 1919. It left an official death toll of 284 with estimates of up to 500 more uncounted dead. Low-lying sections of the city were inundated by up to twelve feet of storm-driven tides. In the downtown, known as the beach section, buildings lining the bay were destroyed or heavily damaged, while the rest of the downtown was flooded with oil-slicked waters. On North Beach, Corpus Christi’s first suburban neighborhood of substantial residences, more than 220 homes were demolished by the storm tide. Those residents unable to reach the safety of high ground were swept into Nueces Bay to battle the storm and debris for their lives. Many died, but some survived the 14-mile struggle across the bay to come ashore at White Point or the Turner Ranch on the back side of Nueces Bay.
WATER WOES – The Corpus Christi Water Supply
Water Woes traces the development of the Corpus Christi, Texas water system from its beginning in 1892, serving a city of 4,000, people to supplying water to over a half million people in 2020. The woes include salt in the water supply, a ruptured dam, a defectively designed second dam, rupturing waterlines, water boils and severe droughts leading to rationing. The woes are capped off by a protracted political battle over the location of a dam, which ended up in the wrong location, at a huge cost overrun that provides little additional water to the city. Water Woes is an excellent reference for the water professional, as well as the history-minded reader.
100 Tales of Old Texas
Texas has a long and rich history. Libraries and collections have many old books, originally printed in small quantities many years ago. Murphy Givens has compiled stories related in some of these hard-to-find old histories into a collection of 100 historic recollections. All tales are from books, newspapers or magazines over 60 years old. They were selected for their tales relating to Texas and Texans. You might recognize some of these writings, but most of them will be new for you and you will enjoy finding new adventures in Texas history through this volume, the latest book from Nueces Press.