South Padre Island is a barrier island in the U.S. state of Texas. It is located in Cameron County and is a popular vacation destination because the resort city South Padre Island is located on the island.
Before European expansion in North America, the island was inhabited by native tribes. Western settlement is considered to have been started by Padre Jose Nicolas Balli, who set up a cattle ranch early in the 19th century. He and his family were driven out by the Mexican–American War, and were unable to return because of the American Civil War.
Most of the island was closed by the National Park Service until 1962, after which settlement was allowed and incomers began to establish an economy on the island and neighboring Port Isabel. By 1978 the island had a population of around 314 and a decade later it had a population of 1,012 and 111 businesses. Being mainly coastline, the island's main source of income is tourism, with tens of thousands of college students flocking to the island every Spring Break. In winter the island hosts "winter Texas": people (often retirees) from colder states who overwinter in the warm Texas climate. Isla Blanca Park, a preserve and recreational park, is located at the southern end of the island.
Famous quotes containing the words south and/or island:
“During Prohibition days, when South Carolina was actively advertising the iodine content of its vegetables, the Hell Hole brand of ‘liquid corn’ was notorious with its waggish slogan: ‘Not a Goiter in a Gallon.’”
—Administration in the State of Sout, U.S. public relief program (1935-1943)
“I ... would rather be in dependance on Great Britain, properly limited, than on any nation upon earth, or than on no nation. But I am one of those too who rather than submit to the right of legislating for us assumed by the British parliament, and which late experience has shewn they will so cruelly exercise, would lend my hand to sink the whole island in the ocean.”
—Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826)