Tres Palacios Bay is a northeastern extension of Matagorda Bay on the Texas coast in Matagorda County. It is fed by the Tres Palacios River. The city of Palacios is located on its shores. A channel that connects Palacios to the Intracoastal Waterway has been dredged through the bay. [1]
Two conflicting stories explain the name of the bay Tres Palacios, which is Spanish for "Three Palaces". One account describes the aftermath of a Spanish shipwreck on Matagorda Bay. As the survivors approached present-day Palacios, they saw three palaces on the shore. However, when they reached land, the palaces mysteriously disappeared. [2] Another account explains that the bay was named for José Félix Trespalacios, who briefly served as Governor of Texas in the 1820s. [3]
Before Palacios was founded in the early 20th century, [2] several settlements were established on the bay. Tres Palacios was founded in the 1830s, and was widely known as Tidehaven due to its location on the outer tidal reaches of the bay. A blacksmith shop, two hotels, and a market were constructed in the town by the 1850s, and a post office was established in 1856. [4] Palacios Point was founded in 1838 at the confluence of the Matagorda and Tres Palacios Bays. Along with houses, a few wharves and warehouses were constructed before the American Civil War. However, most of these buildings were torn down or abandoned in the 1880s due to storms and legal conflicts. Portsmouth was established in the same area following the arrival of the railroad in 1902, but it never developed into a substantial settlement. [5]
Shortly after the founding of Palacios, Collegeport was established on the opposite end of the bay. The town's name derived from the Gulf Coast University of Industrial Arts, which had been erected in the area by the Hurd Land Company. The town prospered in cattle, until the late 1910s, when a farming shortage, followed by an ice storm caused many residents to leave. The university was closed in 1952. Collegeport still exists, and had a population of 85 people during the 2000 U.S. Census. [6]
The bay is a popular fishing destination, specializing in shrimp and blue crab production. [2] It is also recognized as an ideal birding locale; over 300 species of birds have been spotted near the bay, and it led the nation during the National Audubon Society's Annual Christmas bird count from 2000 to 2002. [7]
Matagorda County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, the population was 36,255. Its county seat is Bay City, not to be confused with the larger Baytown in Harris and Chambers Counties. Matagorda County is named for the canebrakes that once grew along the coast.
Limestone County is a county in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, its population was 22,146. Its county seat is Groesbeck. The county was created in 1846.
Calhoun County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, the population was 20,106. Its county seat is Port Lavaca. The county is named for John Caldwell Calhoun, the seventh vice president of the United States. Calhoun County comprises the Port Lavaca, TX Micropolitan Statistical Area, which is also included in the Victoria-Port Lavaca, TX Combined Statistical Area.
Palacios is a city in Matagorda County, Texas, United States. The population was 4,395 at the 2020 census.
The Colorado River is an approximately 862-mile-long (1,387 km) river in the U.S. state of Texas. It is the 11th longest river in the United States and the longest river with both its source and its mouth within Texas.
Indianola is a ghost town located on Matagorda Bay in Calhoun County, Texas, United States. The community, once the county seat of Calhoun County, is a part of the Victoria, Texas, Metropolitan Statistical Area. In 1875, the city had a population of 5,000, but on September 15 of that year, a powerful hurricane struck, killing between 150 and 300 and almost destroying the town. Indianola was rebuilt, only to be wiped out on August 19, 1886, by another intense hurricane followed by a fire. Indianola was designated a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark in 1963, marker number 2642.
Lavaca Bay is a northwestern extension of the Matagorda Bay system found mostly in Calhoun County, Texas, United States. The ports of Port Lavaca and Point Comfort have been established on the bay, and are the main areas of human habitation. Linnville was located on the bay until its abandonment after the Great Raid of 1840, and the major port of Indianola was found near the confluence with the main Matagorda Bay, until the town's final destruction following the massive hurricane of 1886. Smaller communities include Olivia, Alamo Beach and Magnolia Beach. Lavaca Bay is approximately 82 miles (130 km) northeast of Corpus Christi, about 121 miles (190 km) southwest of Houston, and 145 miles (230 km) southeast of San Antonio.
Matagorda Bay is a large Gulf of Mexico bay on the Texas coast, lying in Calhoun and Matagorda counties and located approximately 80 miles (130 km) northeast of Corpus Christi, 143 miles (230 km) east-southeast of San Antonio, 108 miles (174 km) south-southwest of Houston, and 167 miles (269 km) south-southeast of Austin. It is one of seven major estuaries along the Gulf Coast of Texas and serves as the mouth of numerous streams, most notably the Lavaca and Colorado Rivers. The Texas seaport of Port Lavaca is located on the system's northwestern extension of Lavaca Bay. The city of Palacios is found on northeastern extension of Tres Palacios Bay, and Port O'Connor is located on the southwestern tip of the main bay's shore. The ghost town of Indianola, which was a major port before it was destroyed by two hurricanes in the late 19th century, is also found on the bay.
Corpus Christi Bay is a scenic semi-tropical bay on the Texas coast found in San Patricio and Nueces counties, next to the major city of Corpus Christi. It is separated from the Gulf of Mexico by Mustang Island, and is fed by the Nueces River and Oso Creek from its western and southern extensions, Nueces Bay and Oso Bay. The bay is located approximately 136 miles (219 km) south of San Antonio, and 179 miles (288 km) southwest of Houston.
San Antonio Bay is a bay on the Texas Gulf Coast situated between Matagorda and Aransas Bay. It consists mainly of the combined waters of the San Antonio and Guadalupe rivers, and is located at the mouth of the Guadalupe River, about 55 miles (89 km) northeast of Corpus Christi and 130 miles (209 km) southeast of San Antonio. It is protected from the Gulf of Mexico by Matagorda Island, leaving only relatively small and distant outlets to the Gulf for little mixing of bay and Gulf waters. The remoteness of the bay has prevented the establishment of major ports as seen on Aransas Bay and Corpus Christi Bay, to the south.
Matagorda is a census-designated place in Matagorda County, Texas, United States. It is located near the mouth of the Colorado River on the upper Texas coast in the United States. In 2020, its population was 313. Matagorda is primarily a tourist town, with commercial and recreational fishing being the top industries. Approximately 23 miles (37 km) of the beach are accessible by vehicle and 35 additional miles are accessible only by boat. Matagorda is at the end of State Highway 60 and the beginning of Farm to Market Road 2031, which runs over the Intracoastal Waterway and south to the Gulf of Mexico.
Turtle Creek is a creek that rises west of Blessing, Texas (USA) in western Matagorda County. It runs 12.5 miles (20 km) southwest to Turtle Bay, west of Palacios.
Collegeport is an unincorporated community in Matagorda County, Texas, United States.
Cedar Bayou is a salt water channel on the Texas coast that separates San Jose Island from Matagorda Island. The pass serves as a water exchange between the Gulf of Mexico and the San Antonio, Matagorda and Aransas Bay systems.
The Matagorda Peninsula is a narrow spit of land on the southeastern coast of Texas in the United States.
St. Charles Bay is an inlet of Aransas Bay in Aransas County, Texas. It is flanked by Lamar peninsula on the west and Blackjack peninsula on the east. The bay hosts a valued ecosystem for the endangered whooping crane, and is a prime location for birding and fishing. Goose Island State Park and the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge are located along the bay's shores, attracting nature enthusiasts year-round.
Espiritu Santo Bay is a northeastern extension of San Antonio Bay in Calhoun County, Texas. It is separated from Matagorda Bay by a line of barrier islands that run south from Port O'Connor to Matagorda Island.
Carancahua Bay is a northern extension of Matagorda Bay located in Jackson and Calhoun counties in Texas, United States. It is oriented from the southeast to the northwest but meanders as it reaches the north to the confluence with Carancahua Creek watershed. Generally slender, Carancahua Bay is only about 1 mile (1.6 km) in width north of its circular mouth.
Pass Cavallo, alternately known as Cavallo Pass, is one of five natural water inlets which separate the Gulf of Mexico and Matagorda Bay, in the U.S. state of Texas. Matagorda Island Lighthouse was originally built on this site. During the Civil War, Pass Cavallo was a major port of entry and was captured by the Union.
The U.S. state of Texas has a series of estuaries along its coast on the Gulf of Mexico, most of them bounded by the Texas barrier islands. Estuaries are coastal bodies of water in which freshwater from rivers mixes with saltwater from the sea. Twenty-one drainage basins terminate along the Texas coastline, forming a chain of seven major and five minor estuaries: listed from southwest to northeast, these are the Rio Grande Estuary, Laguna Madre, the Nueces Estuary, the Mission–Aransas Estuary, the Guadalupe Estuary, the Colorado–Lavaca Estuary, East Matagorda Bay, the San Bernard River and Cedar Lakes Estuary, the Brazos River Estuary, Christmas Bay, the Trinity–San Jacinto Estuary, and the Sabine–Neches Estuary. Each estuary is named for its one or two chief contributing rivers, excepting Laguna Madre, East Matagorda Bay, and Christmas Bay, which have no major river sources. The estuaries are also sometimes referred to by the names of their respective primary or central water bodies, though each also includes smaller secondary bays, inlets, or other marginal water bodies.
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