RINCON POINT. Rincon Point is at the northernmost end of El
Rincón, a peninsula jutting north of Corpus Christi and marking
the boundary between Nueces and Corpus Christi bays in Nueces
County (at 27°50' N, 97°23' W). The area was originally
inhabited by Karankawa Indians. It was first described by the
Spanish explorer Joaquín de Orobío y Basterra, who charted the
Gulf Coast in 1746. Some sources suggest that the area may have
been previously visited by Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca, Alonzo
Álvarez de Pineda, and La Salleqv. The name El Rincón, which
means a corner or bend, was first recorded in a grant to Enrique
Villarealqv in 1810 but was used to describe a much larger area
extending well down the coast. At the start of the Mexican War
Gen. Zachary Taylor's troops camped near the point, and in
August 1862 the Confederate Army foiled a landing attempt by
Union forces. By 1874 residences had begun to appear on the
Rincon. A hurricane that year destroyed most of the structures,
but they were quickly rebuilt, a p