Corpus Christi, Texas
City in the United States in Nueces County, Kleberg County, San Patricio County
About Corpus Christi
Corpus Christi ( KOR-pəs KRIS-tee; Latin for 'Body of Christ') is a coastal city in the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat and largest city of Nueces County in South Texas, with portions extending into Aransas, Kleberg, and San Patricio counties. With a population of 317,247 as of July 1, 2025, it is the eighth-most populous city in Texas.
Corpus Christi is 130 miles (210 km) southeast of San Antonio and 208 miles (335 km) southwest of Houston. Its political boundaries encompass Nueces Bay and Corpus Christi Bay. Its zoned boundaries include small land parcels or water inlets of three neighboring counties. The Corpus Christi metropolitan area had an estimated population of 442,600. It is also the hub of the six-county Corpus Christi–Kingsville–Alice combined statistical area.
Corpus Christi serves as an economic center in South Texas. Much of the city's economy is supported by different industries such as energy, manufacturing, healthcare, tourism, and maritime commerce. The Port of Corpus Christi is one of the largest ports in the United States by total waterborne tonnage, it plays a major role in both domestic and international trade. The region is served by the Corpus Christi International Airport. Corpus Christi is also home to Naval Air Station Corpus Christi, one of two locations training primary student pilots and advanced multiengine pilots of the US military.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
How Corpus Christi is governed
Form of government not yet listed.
1 of 14 positions listed. Gray dashed boxes are placeholders waiting for a name.
Residents of Corpus Christi
Registered voters elect the officials below.
-
Mayor
Executive
- Paulette Guajardo per Wikidata
The city's chief elected official. Presides over the executive branch, proposes the budget and represents the city.
-
City Manager / Administrator
Executive
Not yet listed. Log in to add who holds this
The professional administrator who runs day-to-day operations (in some cities appointed by the council instead of the mayor).
-
Police Chief
Administration & departments
Not yet listed. Log in to add who holds this
Leads the police department.
-
Fire Chief
Administration & departments
Not yet listed. Log in to add who holds this
Leads the fire and emergency services department.
-
Public Works Director
Administration & departments
Not yet listed. Log in to add who holds this
Streets, water, sewer, and city buildings.
-
Finance Director
Administration & departments
Not yet listed. Log in to add who holds this
The budget, taxes, and city accounts.
-
Planning & Zoning Director
Administration & departments
Not yet listed. Log in to add who holds this
Land use, zoning, building permits.
-
Parks & Recreation Director
Administration & departments
Not yet listed. Log in to add who holds this
Parks, programs, and public facilities.
-
-
City Council
Legislative
Not yet listed. Log in to add who holds this
The elected body that passes ordinances, sets the tax rate and approves the budget.
-
City Clerk
Administration & departments
Not yet listed. Log in to add who holds this
Keeps the official records, runs meeting agendas and, often, local elections.
-
City Attorney
Administration & departments
Not yet listed. Log in to add who holds this
The city's lawyer; advises officials and prosecutes ordinance violations.
-
Boards & Commissions
Legislative
Not yet listed. Log in to add who holds this
Citizen advisory bodies, such as planning, zoning appeals and library boards.
-
-
Municipal Court
Judicial
Not yet listed. Log in to add who holds this
Hears traffic, ordinance and other minor cases.
-
Municipal Judge
Judicial
Not yet listed. Log in to add who holds this
Presides over the municipal court.
-
- Website
- cctexas.com
Looking for your county, state and federal representatives too? See who represents 78401 or everyone in Texas.
Population over time
From 305,215 in 2010 to 317,863 in 2020 (+4.1%).
Show the numbers
| Year | Population |
|---|---|
| 2020 | 317,863 |
| 2013 | 316,381 |
| 2010 | 305,215 |
Corpus Christi in the news
-
Rubio delivers 11-second remarks at Trump rally
Secretary of State Marco Rubio delivered brief, impromptu remarks at President Trump’s rally in Corpus Christi, Texas, on Tuesday. “It's an honor to work for the greatest country in the world, for the greatest president in the history of the United States of America. We love you,…
News The Hill
Corpus Christi videos
-
Katie Zacharia Breaks Silence on White House Exit | The NEWSMAX Daily (10/28/2026)
Newsmax on YouTube
-
Leavitt FIRES BACK at Obama's ballroom jab
Fox News Politics on YouTube
-
President Trump honors Marco Rubio at midterm rally
Fox News Politics on YouTube
History
Spaniard Alonso Alvarez de Pineda traveled in 1519 to this bay on the day of the religious Feast of Corpus Christi, so named the semitropical bay Corpus Christi.
Cabeza de Vaca and his companions may have been the first Europeans to reach Corpus Christi in the 1500s, the first documented exploration of the Nueces River and Corpus Christi Bay was conducted by Joaquín de Orobio y Basterra in 1747. In 1749, José de Escandón, governor and captain general of Nuevo Santander, proposed establishing a settlement called Villa de Vedoya near the mouth of the Nueces River. He organized a colony of about 50 families to settle the head of the bay, though this was short-lived. A prolonged drought and inadequate supplies caused the effort to be abandoned before settlers reached their destination.
Additional settlement proposals followed during the late 18th century and early 19th century. Manuel de Escandón proposed another colony in 1787, and Spanish authorities considered relocating Nuestra Señora del Refugio Mission to the area, but these plans were never realized. During the 1830s, Baron Johann von Rachnitz and abolitionist Benjamin Lundy separately proposed colonies near the mouth of the Nueces River, though the effort never succeeded.
In 1839, the first known permanent settlement of Corpus Christi was established by Colonel Henry Lawrence Kinney and William P. Aubrey as Kinney's Trading Post, or Kinney's Ranch. It was a small trading post that sold supplies to a Mexican revolutionary army camped about 25 mi (40 km) west.
In July 1845, U.S. troops commanded by General Zachary Taylor set up camp there in preparation for war with Mexico, where they remained until March 1846. About a year later, the settlement was named Corpus Christi and was incorporated on September 9, 1852.
The Battle of Corpus Christi was fought between August 12 and August 18, 1862, during the American Civil War. United States Navy forces blockading Texas fought a small land and sea engagement with Confederate forces in and around Corpus Christi Bay and bombarded the city. Union forces defeated Confederate States Navy ships operating in the area, but were repulsed when they landed on the coast.
The Port of Corpus Christi
Before 1836, the bay was primarily used for smuggling operations due to the natural protection the bay provided. After the Texas Revolution, the bay started seeing use by traders. During the Civil War, the bay was under the ownership of the Confederacy. It served as a trading harbor until 1864 when the Union secured it. On September 15th 1926, the Port of Corpus Christi officially opened after the massive efforts of Elihu Harrison Ropes to dredge out the bay.
Corpus Christi Naval Air Station
The decision to build the Naval Air Station was made due to the United States' lack of trained air pilots. The 75th Congress ordered the start of construction in 1938. On March 12th 1941, the Corpus Christi Naval Air Station was put into operation with its first skipper being Captain Alva Bernhard.
Civil Rights
In November 1873, seven Mexican shepherds were lynched by a mob near the city. The crime was never solved.
In February 1929, the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) was founded in Corpus Christi. This organization was created to battle racial discrimination against Hispanic people in the United States. Since its founding, LULAC has grown and now has a national headquarters in Washington, D.C.
In March 1949, the American GI Forum (AGIF) was founded in Corpus Christi. Currently, AGIF focuses on veteran's issues, education, and civil-rights issues. This organization was founded after concerns over the segregation of Mexican-American veterans from other veterans groups and the denial of medical services based on race by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs.
Cisneros v. Corpus Christi Independent School District (1970) was the first case to extend the U.S. Supreme Court's Brown v. the Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas decision (1954) to Mexican Americans. It recognized them as a minority group that could be and was frequently discriminated against. Such segregation and discrimination were ruled unconstitutional. Judge Woodrow Seals found that the school board consciously fostered a system that perpetuated traditional segregation. This included a system that bused Anglo students to schools out of their neighborhoods, renovated old schools in black and Mexican-American neighborhoods rather than building new ones, assigned black and Hispanic teachers to segregated schools, and limited hiring of such teachers at other schools; the school board also lacked a majority-to-minority busing system.
Natural Disasters
The 1919 Storm devastated the city, killing hundreds on September 14. Only three structures survived the storm on North Beach. To protect the city, the seawall was built. The city also suffered damage from Hurricane Celia in 1970 and Hurricane Allen in 1980, but little damage from Hurricane Ike in 2008. In 2017, the city was affected by Hurricane Harvey, then by Hurricane Hanna in 2020. Rough surf from Hurricane Laura caused one death and one injury at a beach in the city in late August 2020, just a month after Hanna.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.