This little town on Mustang Island was originally called Ropesville, but was
renamed to Taron in 1889. It wasn't until 1912 when the town was given its present
name of Port Aransas. Since its inception, Port Aransas has become world-reknowned
as a fishing and vacation attraction, with clean white beaches and rolling breakers.
Its major industry is deepsea and sport fishing. The climate is mild and its summers
pleasant thanks to the incoming breezes from the Gulf of Mexico.
Nueces County
Population: 312,081 (up 7.2 percent from 1990)
County seat: Corpus Christi (population 276,712)
Location: On the gulf, northeast of Kleberg County, southeast of Jim
Wells County and southwest of San Patricio County.
Size: 1,166.4 square miles (835.9 square miles of land)
Climate: Mean July maximum temperature - 93; mean January minimum temperature
- 45; annual precipitation - 30.1 inches.
History: Coahuiltecan and Karankawa tribes had left the area by 1840.
Spanish settlers came to the area in 1760, followed by Irish settlers in 1830.
The county was created from San Patricio County in 1848. It was named for the
Nueces River. Nueces is Spanish for nuts.
Economy: Petroleum processing and production, deepwater port, tourism
and conventions, shipping, manufacturing and military (Naval Air Station Corpus
Christi). The County is first in the state in sales and acreage of grain sorghum
and also produces a lot of cotton, corn, nursery crops, beef, hogs and goats.
Statistics: Crimes per 1,000 residents (1998) - 73.394; Pregnancies
per 1,000 women ages 15-44 (1997) - 97,9; Voter turnout (1998) - 31.76 percent;
Per capita income (1998) - $20,673.
Major tourist attractions:
