So, I decided to see what I could find about Corpus Christi and where it got its name. I knew it had to be Spanish Catholics who founded the town, but didn't know much else.
The Catholic Diocese of Corpus Christi provides this short history.
In 1747 José de Escandón commissioned an expedition to map the area south of the Presidio of La Bahía. Don Joaquín Orobio Y Basterra with 25 men and one priest reached the mouth of the Nueces River and named the bay he found San Miguel Arcángel. In 1766 the mission and Presidio of La Bahía was moved for the fourth time to its present location in Goliad. It was from here, responding to rumors that the "English" had landed somewhere south and east along the coast, Don Diego Ortiz Parrilla lead an expedition to the Gulf. Although he found no "English" he did re-map the area and re-named the bay Corpus Christi.Still doesn't tell me why the name "Corpus Christi". However, if I'm reading this right it seems that the name was actually given to the bay in the 16th century.
The first European to explore this area was Captain Alonso Alvarez de Pineda, who was commissioned by the Spanish Governor of Jamaica in 1519 to explore the coast with four ships and 270 men in hopes of finding a water passage to the Orient. De Pineda mapped the entire coast of the Gulf of Mexico from Florida to Vera Cruz (in present-day Mexico) including what was then known as "La Isla Blanca" (the White Island), which later became known as Padre Island. Legend claims he also discovered a small bay on June 24, 1519 which he named for the Catholic feast of Corpus Christi, which was celebrated on that day.Not all that relevant, but a little fact to file away as Rita bears down on the region this weekend.
