Architecture...and other mysteries

The next morning, we got up early, had breakfast, and then headed into downtown. We were eager to see what the city looked like.

Honestly, it was kind of a shock. Big chunks of the city center seem to have fallen on hard times in the last few years. There were a lot of store fronts that were empty or chained shut. It was rather depressing.

I heard later--from a tour guide --that the city had a downturn in the late 1980s, when the oil industry was a bit depressed. Still, now (happily) the city center does seem to be coming back. For every dead store front, we saw another store moving in. There were new cafes and new bakeries and new restaurants, new apartment buildings and new office complexes, new “mixed use” facilities...

I’m guessing that before too long, when you visit Corpus, you’ll see no signs of those empty shops...at least, not downtown.

About the photos: First, Martha and a Mer-Friend in downtown Corpus. This is an example of the kind of murals and public art you can find there. Second, one of the art deco influenced buildings downtown. Quite attractive, really. Third, one of the closed buildings downtown. You can still see the scars of a recent economic downturn.

What you will see is fascinating architecture. I don’t know quite how to describe the older buildings of Corpus, some of which date back quite a ways--at least to the 1920s and probably beyond. Maybe the best I can do is say that they are intensely tropical.

To me, they vaguely look like something you’d see in Miami, or maybe the Caribbean. Martha said they reminded her of New Orleans. I wondered if there was some sort of link between building here and buildings in those places.

But, when I asked local folks about such things, and when I did a little limited research on the Web, I was told that there was no such link. Corpus’s architecture is its own, and developed organically here. Admittedly, there was perhaps a common heritage of Spanish colonial and Caribbean building, and in the 1920s there were common borrowings from modernism and art deco, but beyond that...Corpus built as it chose. Not much was imported from elsewhere.

Rather than describe it, I’ll post some pictures. Worth a thousand words and all that.

The other thing we saw downtown, and which we really enjoyed, was murals and public art. It turns out that Corpus has a tremendous tradition along these lines. The city authorities actively encourage and support local artists doing beautiful work on walls and other public spaces. Again, I’ll post pictures.

An aside, this isn’t just because Corpus-folks like paintings -- they do. But there’s more to it than that. When the city realized it was having a problem with dead spaces and urban decay, the authorities set out to change the physical appearance of the city. Empty shops, dead stores, were transformed into massive, public displays of art.

And...surprise, surprise...it’s working. Where before certain areas might be considered simply no-go zones, now they’re (as I heard it put) “selfie spots.” People make an effort to go there. So, naturally, business follows the crowd.(1)

There’s even a regular Downtown Corpus Mural Fest. Alas, we just missed the last one. But there are surely more to come.(2)

Anyway, we rambled about, looking at this and that, and then had lunch at the Water Street Central Kitchen bakery and cafe, which was excellent.(3) After a bit more touring, we headed back to the hotel.

And then, it was once more to the beach. And we had a lovely time.

The next day would be our anniversary.

But...sigh... there would be complications.

More to come.

Footnotes:

1. Jacqueline Gonzalez, “Murals to Check Out in Downtown Corpus Christi,” Visit Corpus Christi, September 23 2025, accessed November 3 2025, https://www.visitcorpuschristi.com/blog/post/new-murals-to-check-out-in-downtown-corpus-christi/

2. “Mural Fest 2025,” Downtown Corpus Christi Management District, accessed November 3, 2025, https://downtowncorpuschristi.org/events/mural-fest-2025

3. Water Street Central Kitchen, https://centralkitchencc.com/

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