According to some documents from the Spanish Archives, Westerners
first walked the shores of Padre Island around 1519 when Spanish Explorer Alonso
Alvarez de Pineda surveyed the area as he charted the Gulf of Mexico for Spain
. Padre Island first appears as a dot labeled ‘Isla Blanca' ( White Island )
on a map drawn by Pineda. In one of his letters, Pineda claimed that “giants
inhabited the coast” and may have been referring to the mysterious Karankawa
Indians, a supposedly cannibalistic Indian tribe that was known to mark its
territory…and keep it. The Indians of the Archaic period are believed to have
lived on the island from 2700 to 1000 B.C. and were followed by the Karankawan
and Coahuiltecan peoples of the Rockport culture. Historical evidence and accounts
of encounters between the Karankawans and South Texas cowboys and vaqueros (Mexican
cowboys, the first cowboys) suggests that Indians roamed the area as late as
1850! However, at this time, most of the Indians were converted Christians from
the nearby mission established by Padre Balli. Historians claim that when their
end came, these Indians commited suicide on Padre Island. The tribe chose death
istead of slavery and conversion. These warriors killed their feeble old men,
women, and children, and buried them on the mainland. They they crossed back
to the Island, burned their rafts, folded their arms proudly, and awaited their
death by their conquerers.
During the early 1940s, the US Air Force established an Air Base at a nearby
airport (today known as Cameron County Airport ) about three miles West of South
Padre Island. Fighter aircraft from the base practiced bombing and gunnery sorties
in and around an isolated portion of South Padre Island (and nearby Laguna Madre).
Local newspaper headlines at the time were often seen to quote: “Do not swim
in the waters East of Laguna Madre or you may be shot by diving aircraft!” If
you travel to the West side of South Padre Island , you can still find old bomb
and bullet shells from fighter/bomber aircraft. On low tide, you can still see
pieces of aircraft from a few unfortunate wrecks and crashes.
In 1978, South Padre Island had a population estimated at 314. Ten years later
it had an estimated 1,012 residents and 111 businesses. Its main industry is
tourism; peak seasons are summer, late winter and spring. Hundreds of thousands
of college students make the trek down to South Padre Island during their annual
Spring Breaks to party and party and party. During the winter season, the area
is much calmer and the population drops almost 50% and is often visited by Winter
Texans (senior citizens from the North who escape the cold). Still, the area
is often warm enough to enjoy the outdoors. In the late 1980 and early 90s,
South Padre Island was labeled the “best kept secret” of the state of Texas
and to this day is considered one of the top 10 beaches in the nation.
Current Population: 2422
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