Flour Bluff, Corpus Christi, Texas facts for kids

Flour Bluff is a special area within the city of Corpus Christi, Texas. It's located on a piece of land called the Encinal peninsula. This area is surrounded by water: Corpus Christi Bay to the north, Oso Bay to the west, and the Laguna Madre to the east. To the south, it borders the famous King Ranch.

A main road called South Padre Island Drive goes through Flour Bluff. This road divides the area into two parts:

• The upper part, known as North Bluff, is mostly home to the Corpus Christi Naval Air Station.
• The lower part is called South Bluff.

Flour Bluff is mainly a suburban area, meaning it has many homes and neighborhoods. You'll find local and national businesses here, like Walmart and H-E-B grocery stores.

History of Flour Bluff

The road known today as Flour Bluff Drive was once a railroad line. This railway connected to the Naval Air Station.

Early Military Use

During World War II, a place called Waldron Field was built on the south side of Flour Bluff. This field has been used by the Navy as a landing airfield ever since. If you visit, you might often see orange and white training planes flying around!

Some important people trained at this Navy base. In 1942, future President George H. W. Bush was here for training classes. Future senator John McCain also trained at this Navy base.

How Flour Bluff Got Its Name

The name "Flour Bluff" comes from an interesting event in history. In 1838, during a conflict known as the Pastry War between France and Mexico, France blocked Mexico's coast. This made it hard for Mexico to get supplies.

Because of this, people started smuggling goods into Mexico through places like Corpus Christi Bay. Supplies were brought overland from Texas. This secret trade became very busy as Mexico desperately needed goods.

Even though the President of Texas, Sam Houston, didn't want to cause trouble with Mexico, Mexican patrols in Corpus Christi upset many Texans. In July 1838, Texans heard that Mexico had declared Corpus Christi a port and sent about 400 soldiers to protect it.

Texans gathered to remove the Mexican soldiers from Texas land. By the time they arrived, some Mexican soldiers had already landed their supplies and left. The rest scattered, leaving behind about 100 barrels of flour and parts of a steam engine. The Texans took the usable flour and other items. Because of this event, the area became known as Flour Bluff.

Education in Flour Bluff

Flour Bluff is home to the Flour Bluff Independent School District (FBISD). This school district has six different campuses and athletic fields all located on one large 170-acre site.

The district serves about 5,600 students, from prekindergarten all the way through 12th grade. This means students can go to school in Flour Bluff from a very young age until they graduate high school.

Fun and Recreation

Flour Bluff offers many ways to have fun outdoors, especially if you love fishing or disc golf!

Fishing Spots

To the east, Flour Bluff is next to the Laguna Madre. This body of water is famous for its excellent fishing, especially for fish like Red Drum (also called Redfish) and Trout.

Another great fishing spot is called The Boat Hole. It's located between the Naval Air Station and Dimmit's Island. The Boat Hole is known for good fishing, and both deep and shallow boats can access it.

Parks and Activities

Flour Bluff has several parks. One of them, Waldron Park, is home to a 9-hole disc golf course. Disc golf is a sport where players throw a disc (like a frisbee) into a target basket, similar to golf.

Images for kids

• Waldron Field.jpg

  Waldron Field, a Navy landing airfield in Flour Bluff.

• Red Drum.jpg

  Red Drum, a popular fish found in the Laguna Madre.

• Disc golf course.jpg

  A disc golf course, like the one at Waldron Park.