Cole Park in Corpus Christi, Tx

Sometimes the absolute best things happen when we aren’t planning them at all!

This was the case with our seaside park day adventure. What started with a goal of going to a stores grand opening ended up being the perfect midday excursion.

Finding hidden gems are truly one of my favorite things to do. When our destination wasn’t attainable in the amount of time we had allotted we made a side venture to a park we had been wanting to see. Cole Park is located seaside along Corpus Christi Bay in Corpus Christi, Tx.

It has an endearing and heartwarming beginning.

As we ventured into the park we noticed the joyfulness of everyone there, no somberness or stress was at play what so ever, people were relaxed and having an amazing time! My cubs ran right into action! There were so many children to engage with and so many activities including musical Instruments and a unique roller slide! The xylophone and drums were an absolute hit for me and my little crew! As the music made had people smiling and dancing like islanders we reveled in the joy and merriment we felt with everyone. With the oceans breeze and sounds the vibe was perfect! There was plenty of parking, shade and seating for everyone and enough trash bins to make keeping it clean easy.

As I realized it was our time to leave for my evening meeting we decided to venture to the food truck that we have noticed always seems to be in the park when we had passed by. They presented a large amount of snow cone flavors as well as coffee and mangonadas! While my cubs enjoyed snow cones I partook in one of my all time favorites… the mangonada. It was the perfect cap to our afternoon.

As I stated above the park had a heartwarming beginning and was created when an honest mistake was made. A city employee in 1926 was plowing the city park of Austin L. Wright and went beyond it’s boundaries and plowed land owned by E. B. Cole. To reconcile E. B. Cole was quoted via a news paper article microfilm as having called on W. J. Smith, street and park commissioner to apprise him of the trespass. He was noted as saying “Tell you what I'll do, I'll deed that six acres over to the city if the city will guarantee to use it permanently only for purposes of a public park." In 1929 the Cole family officially offered the 6 acres to the city with the stipulations that it was to always remain a park, the city would protect it from the bays erosion, it would be named after E.B. Cole and a monument in his honor would be erected on premise. The city officially accepted the terms as they were too good to be passed up. In 1933 a stone entrance marker was placed for $400 out of the cities funds and the landscaping, terracing and sodding a ravine were paid for by federal relief funds. On April 23, 1939 on E. B. Coles 83rd birthday the park had it’s grand opening and boy was it a turn out! Hundreds are noted to have gathered as they celebrated the goodness and kind hearted gift Cole had bestowed upon the cherished Sparkling City By The Sea.

One thing I would like to know is the name of the worker who made the mistake as it was also his actions that sparked this heartfelt gift to the people of Corpus Christi, he deserves a mention and a thank you as well.