Corpus Christi, Nueces County
Henry L. Kinney (b. 1914), who founded Corpus Christi, established Nuecestown in 1852 at the location of the first ferry crossing on the Nueces River west of Corpus Christi. He sent agents to Europe, primarily England and Germany, to promote his new settlement. Each immigrant purchased 100 acres of land, a town lot, and 10 head of cattle. Nuecestown, known locally as "The Motts" because of several clusters of trees, grew to have, in addition to the ferry, a hotel, packery, and one of the county's first cotton gins. A Post Office opened in 1859. After the Civil War it was a gathering place for cattle drovers in the area herding longhorns to be driven to northern railheads. On Good Friday, March 26, 1875, Mexican bandits entered the region on a raid, causing many Corpus Christi residents to flee. After plundering the Frank Store (3 miles east), the raiders turned on Nuecestown, looting and burning T.J. Noake's store and Post Office, killing one man, and capturing several hostages. A party of citizens pursued the attackers unsuccessfully, and another man was killed. When bypassed by the St. Louis, Brownsville and Mexico Railway about 1905, Nuecestown began to decline. The post office closed in 1927. (1973)