Corpus Christi and the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway
Corpus Christi, Nueces County, Texas
Marker Inscription
CORPUS CHRISTI AND THE GULF INTRACOASTAL WATERWAY THE ATTACK ON PEARL HARBOR BROUGHT THE U.S. INTO WORLD WAR II. NEW NAVAL TECHNOLOGY AND THE APPEARANCE OF GERMAN U-BOATS MEANT THAT AMERICA WAS VULNERABLE TO SEA-BORNE ATTACKS. CORPUS CHRISTI HAD OIL WHICH WOULD ALLEVIATE THE EAST COAST SHORTAGE AND HAD THE ABILITY TO SHIP OVER ONE MILLION TONS OF CARGO. WITH THE CREATION OF THE GULF INTRACOASTAL WATERWAY, SOON TO BE KNOWN AS THE CANAL, CORPUS CHRISTI BECAME AN ACTIVE AND EFFECTIVE PARTICIPANT IN WORLD WAR II BY LINKING ITS PORT TO HARBORS NORTH, SOUTH AND EAST OF TEXAS. IN 1905, CLARENCE S.E. HOLLAND CALLED FOR A CONFERENCE IN VICTORIA TO ESTABLISH AN INTRACOASTAL WATERWAY LOBBY. HE ENVISIONED A CANAL LINKING THE RIO GRANDE AND MISSISSIPPI RIVERS. THE INLAND WATERWAY LEAGUE, LATER RENAMED THE INTRACOASTAL CANAL ASSOCIATION OF LOUISIANA AND TEXAS (ICALT), WAS FORMED. IT WASN’T UNTIL 1930 THAT EASEMENTS WERE ACQUIRED TO SECURE PROPERTY FOR THE CANAL. ENGINEER GEORGE HOFFMAN’S CONCEPT FOR A LAND ROUTE WOULD PROTECT THE SHIPS FROM STORM CONDITIONS IN THE BAY, AND LATER, FROM THE ENEMY. BY 1944, THE CANAL WAS CARRYING OVER 900 OIL-LADEN VESSELS FROM CORPUS CHRISTI TO THE EAST COAST, AND BY THE END OF 1945, INTRACOASTAL WATERWAY SHIPMENTS TOTALED OVER ONE MILLION TONS. AS THE NATION ENTERED THE COLD WAR YEARS, PRODUCT WAS STEADILY MOVING OUT OF THE CANAL TO PROCESSING CENTERS IN OTHER STATES. BY THE END OF 1951, IT WAS CARRYING OVER 25% OF THE PORT OF CORPUS CHRISTI’S TOTAL TONNAGE. POPULATION ALSO INCREASED WITH THE CREATION OF THE CANAL. NUECES COUNTY GREW 80% AND CAMERON COUNTY GREW BY HALF. AT THE DEDICATION OF THE CANAL, ROY MILLER STATED, “THE CANAL IS THE WORK OF MAN’S HANDS. BUT IT IS MOST OF ALL A CREATURE OF DESTINY.” (2012)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
When Pearl Harbor drew the United States into World War II, German U-boats made open-water shipping deadly, and the sheltered Gulf Intracoastal Waterway, "the Canal," became a vital protected route for Corpus Christi's oil. First envisioned in 1905 and finally secured through easements in 1930, the inland canal carried more than 900 oil-laden vessels toward the East Coast by 1944 and over a million tons of cargo by war's end. Its traffic and the growth it spurred helped transform Corpus Christi and the surrounding counties.
Why it matters
The Intracoastal Waterway shows how a work of engineering became an instrument of war, moving the fuel that powered the Allied effort safely behind the storm- and enemy-swept Gulf.
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Related people
- · Clarence S. E. Holland
- · George Hoffman
- · Roy Miller
Themes & tags
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