A Little Port Isabel
History - 2
In 1934 the first annual Texas
International Fishing Tournament was held in Port Isabel by the International
Game and Fish Association. The first modern use of Port Isabel as a seaport
occurred on July 27, 1935. In 1937 a six-foot channel was dredged from Port
Isabel to a point two miles east of Harlingen. In 1941 the Port Isabel and Rio
Grande sold its track connecting Port Isabel to Brownsville to the St. Louis,
Brownsville and Mexico Railway. The channel connecting Port Isabel to Harlingen
was full of silt by 1942 and was no longer in use.
In 1952 the community had a
population estimated at 2,372 and seventy businesses. By 1956 Port Isabel was
served by the Missouri Pacific Railroad. The Gulf Intracoastal Waterway,
completed during the 1950s, increased trade and improved the economic health of
Port Isabel, but it also caused problems. A spoil bank from its construction
polluted the community, and the city's board sought the assistance of the United
States government to solve the dust problem. The Queen Isabella Causeway, with a
swing bridge across the ship channel between Port Isabel and South Padre Island,
was completed in February 1954 at a cost of $2.2 million. The causeway
drew tourists to the area. The Naval Auxiliary Air Station was commissioned on
April 1, 1957. The estimated population of Port Isabel was 5,300 in 1958. The shrimping industry, contributes significantly to the local economy. In 1960
Port Isabel harvested 7,136,000 pounds of shrimp and served as a gateway into
South Texas and northern Mexico.
The port, equipped for all types of export and
import tonnage, handled 444,627 short tons that year. In 1966 Hurricane Beulah
devastated 15 to 20 percent of the town, and another 25 percent required major
repairs. That year Port Isabel had an estimated population of 4,000 and 122
businesses. During the 1960s, forty-one million pounds of shrimp annually, 65
percent of the state's production, came from the area. At the annual Shrimp
Fiesta held in Port Isabel, among the many ceremonies is a Blessing of the
Fleet. The area is also supported by other commercial fishing, tourism, and the
petroleum industry.
Among the larger businesses in the 1960s were a chemical
refinery, a pipeline-service company, shipyards, and a frozen-food company. In
1978 the Port Isabel Ship Channel had been dredged to thirty-six feet in depth
and 200 feet in bottom width. It was 7,144 feet long and had a turning basin
thirty-six-feet deep by 1,000 feet wide. During the middle to late 1970s the
population fluctuated between an estimated 3,067 and 3,740. The new Queen
Isabella Causeway was constructed in 1974 and replaced the original Queen
Isabella Causeway, which became known as the Old Fishing Pier.
In 1980 Port
Isabel had an estimated population of 3,603 and 155 businesses. During the 1980s
the town continued to attract tourists. Recreational opportunities included
fishing, boating, and hunting. In 1989 the port handled 263,335 short tons of
cargo. In 1990 Port Isabel had a population of 4,622 and a school, although the
number of businesses had declined. The town continued to support itself from the shrimping and fishing industry as well as the tourist industry.
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Corpus Christi Caller, August 21, 1955. Dallas Times Herald, October 6, 1967.
Kate Adele Hill, Lon C. Hill, 1862-1935: Lower Rio Grande Valley Pioneer (San
Antonio: Naylor, 1973). Leonard King, Port of Drifting Men: A Saga of a Texas
Seacoast Town and Its People (San Antonio: Naylor, 1945). Port Isabel Yearbook
(Port Isabel, Texas, Chamber of Commerce, 1960). The Ports of Freeport, Port
Lavaca, Port Isabel and Brownsville, Texas (Port Series 26, Fort Belvoir,
Virginia: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, 1980). Valley By-Liners, Roots by the
River: A Story of Texas Tropical Borderland (Mission, Texas: Border Kingdom
Press, 1978). Vertical Files, Barker Texas History Center, University of Texas
at Austin. Alicia A. Garza The Handbook of Texas, Online.
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Port Isabel Profile