Irishtown
Corpus Christi, Nueces County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Bounded by Twigg and Tiger Streets, Hall's Bayou and Corpus Christi Bay, the section of the city's Ward One known as Irishtown included primarily Irish residents, although there were also Anglo Americans, Mexican Americans, African Americans, Greeks and others. By the 1830s, Irish settlers migrated to San Patricio in response to advertising in the northeastern U.S. by empresarios McMullen and McGloin. Others came with the establishment of Henry L. Kinney' trading post or after serving under Gen. Zachary Taylor during the U.S.-Mexican War (1846-48). Many early settlers were carpenters, laborers, farmers, cattlemen, merchants or blacksmiths. In 1853, a Methodist church began in Irishtown; its building provided space for school as well as worship services. Builders constructed the first Nueces County Courthouse that year, followed by the second, built in 1875 and known as the Hollub Courthouse, and third, built in 1914. By the late 1880s, the San Antonio & Aransas Pass Railway reached the city, with a depot on Tiger Street. By 1900, Irishtown had a volunteer firefighting unit, Shamrock Hose Co. No. 4. The community also had a baseball team which played on a field at the intersection of Chaparral and Fitzgerald Streets. Nearby was Artesian Park, where bands featuring neighborhood musicians held concerts and festivals, and politicians campaigned for office. Although Irishtown declined after the replacement of the Bascule Bridge with Harbor Bridge in 1959 and the loss of county offices in 1977, the Bayfront Science Park would become home to museums, convention and event facilities, and Heritage Park, which includes several residences of old Irishtown. Today, the historic neighborhood continues to be an area rich in culture and heritage. (2007)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
In Corpus Christi's Ward One, the neighborhood called Irishtown drew its name from Irish settlers lured to South Texas in the 1830s by the empresarios McMullen and McGloin and by veterans of the U.S.-Mexican War. Alongside the Irish lived Anglo, Mexican, African American, and Greek families of carpenters, laborers, merchants, and cattlemen, who built churches, courthouses, ballfields, and a volunteer fire company. Though the neighborhood declined after mid-century, its surviving homes now anchor Heritage Park.
Why it matters
Irishtown shows how immigrant recruitment and the aftermath of the Mexican War peopled the Texas coast, blending many nationalities into a distinctly American border community.
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Related people
- · Henry L. Kinney
Themes & tags
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