b'C o m m u n i t yIngleside, Texas: The Coastal Bends QuietAbove/Left: Entrance to the new Ingleside High School; Lower/Left: A postcard from the Ingleside Inn, the center of activity in Boomtown, Teeming with Opportunity the early 20th Century; Middle/Left: Kids Splash Pads at N.O. Simmons Park; Upper/Right: Live music at Ingleside Round-Up Days; Lower/Right: Mega drilling platform at Kiewit Offshore.Even before the Corpus Christi Ship Channel wasIngleside in 1992, home to a mine sweeper trainingPublic parks you find in Ingleside, Texas, are surpris-originally dredged in the late 19th Century, and be- group that brought in hundreds of new, active dutyingly abundant and of high standards for a city of its fore the Port of Corpus Christi officially opened insailors, some with families. Ingleside experienced asize. N.O. Simmons Park is home to soccer fields, kids 1926, the north side of Corpus Christi Bay has servedboom in growth, along with a temporary slump andsplash pads and one of the biggest skate parks in the as a strategic junction for commerce, as a transporta- a period of nervousness after the closure of the baseCoastal Bend. Live Oak Park is where the citys base-tion hub connecting land to sea. was announced in 2005. ball complex is located, along with one of the best The community of Ingleside was established in 1854,It was the strength of the Texas energy industry thatdisc golf courses in the region. Cove Park is located named after the Scottish ancestral homeland of onemore than filled the economic gap left when the U.S.right on Corpus Christi Bay and offers free, lighted of its founders and translated as Fireside from itsNavy departed Ingleside for good in 2010. The Port ofboat ramps, a fishing pier and picnic facilities.original Gaelic language. Vineyards extended acrossCorpus Christi took over the expansive, heavy pier fa- Today, Inglesides population is just under 10,000 as much of the communitys farmland, making grapecilities and converted the site for petrochemical use,local industries thrive, and new residents discover a productiononeofInglesidesprimaryindustries,to great success for the community. Well before thesmaller, safer and close-knit community that is cen-along with vegetable farming and fishing. closure of the base, Kiewit Offshore opened its 555- tral to saltwater recreation, and a short drive to ample As the Texas oil industry emerged as a worldwideacre fabrication facility in Ingleside, where the worldsshopping and healthcare in Corpus Christi. With In-powerhouse in the early 20th Century, Ingleside waslargest offshore drilling platforms are constructed. glesides growth comes economic opportunity.chosen as a strategic transport and production site inThe communitys priority to improve quality of life isWhile Ingleside is busier than ever, unfilled demand 1927. The Humble Oil tank farm and refinery broughtevident by its choice of investments. In recent years,for single- and multi-family residential, along with with it a new housing community. With the openingtheultra-modernInglesideHighSchoolopened,an array of commercial development persists. Daily of two, large aluminum plants including Reynoldsalong with new sports and other facilitiesand atraffic through the center of Ingleside is among the Metals,plusDuPont,Inglesidespopulationgrewnew junior high school is under construction. Withmost dense in the region, which makes the city in-to over 4,000 in 1970. What was set to be historicaljust under 2,000 students, the Ingleside ISD gives at- creasingly attractive to builders and business owners. for the town was the establishment of Naval Stationtention to every students needs and aspirations. The time to build in Ingleside is now!60THE COASTAL BEND GUIDE TheCoastalBend.com'