Lake Corpus Christi State Park

About Lake Corpus Christi State Park

Lake Corpus Christi State Park, a 14,1111.78-acre park at the intersection of the Texas State Line and Living Waterway, opened in 1934 and leased to the city of Corpus Christi from 1934 to 2032.

Many of the facilities were built in the 1930s by the Civil Conservation Corps (CCC).

The damming of the Nueces River created a 21,000 hectare lake, and in the valley a reservoir called Lovenskiold was created after the La Fruita dam on the Nuece River was washed away in November of the same year.

The dam was rebuilt and the name changed to Lake Corpus Christi. Between 1934 and 1935, the bay was developed, where the Nueces River, the Corpus River, the Laredo River and the Live Oak River converged.

The CCC buildings included a bathhouse, a park residence and a canteen, but only the canteens remained. The buildings are built in Mediterranean style with local cast stones. These blocks were cast in different sizes and laid out in a randomly selected pattern that is strongly reminiscent of polished limestone.

When the new reservoir lost its storage capacity in the 1940s due to the silting, it became clear that a new, larger dam and reservoir would be necessary.

The water district eventually received a positive court ruling, and the current dam was completed in 1958. The new dam, named after its namesake, Lake Corus Christi State Park, is the largest man-made body of water in the United States and covers more than 3,500 square kilometers. The construction of the dam and its planned flood basin led to litigation that delayed construction for many years but was eventually completed.

The park is home to one of the last remaining bush populations in Texas and therefore provides habitat for a variety of animals. The nearby nature reserve plays an even greater role and is an important landing place for neotropic migrants.

The most common mammals include Javelina and white-tailed deer, but the most popular fish are blue fish, trout, perch, white-breasted trout and redfish. Common birds in the park are whistling ducks, long blued threshers, black laryngitis and many other bird species.

It overlooks the Nueces River, which was a disputed border between Texas and Mexico before the Texas Revolution. The Rio Grande became the border, making the area officially part of Texas but not part of the park.

The Mexican grassy settlement with straw huts was built in 1858, and the area was inhabited by Karankawa, Lipan and Apaches. The remains of the town are preserved, although it experienced a steady decline when its leaders refused to build a railway until 1887.

The park is located on the northern side of Lake Corpus Christi in the northern part of the state of New Mexico, near the city of Santa Fe.