Moreover, it provided a setting full of natural resources for sustenance, supplying a habitat for indigenous peoples and explorers.īetween the 1500s and the 1800s, European countries like France, Mexico and Spain fought for the claiming rights to the Texas coastline which was a consistent marker for shipwrecks and exploration. This produced a landscape that would have been shielded from the harshness of natural disasters such as hurricanes, making it an ideal place for habitation. With the formation of short islands bonded with longer islands, the other barrier islands helped create Padre Island by moving sand to create a shelf, protecting the mainland area.

Over thousands of years, the island went through many geological developments including a glacial stage and the Holocene era. Furthermore, there are many theories suggesting the creation of the island: formation of offshore shoals grew with the aid of split accretion, geographical variations in sediments, and sea level and sea currents helped to shape the island. Scientists have gathered common knowledge that Padre Island was created with the assistance of other barrier islands. Padre Island is young compared to the earth’s estimated age of 4.5 billion years old, and there is scientific evidence of this from seashells gathered from the island that have been put through radiocarbon testing, indicating that it may be as young as 3,000 to 3,500 years old. By examining the historical evidence of the park’s history and its use of natural resources recognition of how humans have used the landscape over centuries by establishing communities, led to it being an ideal location for a national park. Its natural environment and location make it a perfect place for people to enjoy outdoor activities. Padre Island is the longest natural barrier island along the Gulf of Mexico, covering sixty-six miles along the coastline. It is also home to wildlife like the Kemp’s ridley sea turtle and hundreds of different bird species. Authorized by Congress in 1962, Padre Island National Seashore offers a variety of recreational activities such as visiting the park’s multiple beaches, windsurfing in its Bird Island Basin, and visiting the tourist center for knowledge of the park and its history. (Since this work was created by the federal government, it is in the public domain.)Īlong the Texas Gulf coastline sits a very unique island. It provides a historical reference to the park’s early resources, five years after its opening in 1962. It identifies the locations of ranching headquarters and camp locations, the Spanish and Nicaragua shipwrecks, and the geographical spread and boundaries of the Padre Island National Seashore. This map is of the Padre Island National Seashore in 1967.

North padre island national seashore