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| NPS photo | | Dunes near the Laguna Shore opposite South Beach. This is how Padre Island probably appeared to the native Americans and early European settlers. |
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For almost its entire existence, Padre Island has been wilderness. The first permanent settlement on the island was established around 1804 near the island's southern tip by a Spanish priest named Padre Nicolas Balli. Prior to then, the only people known to have come to the island were nomadic native Americans, Spanish troops or ships searching for evidence of English or French incursion into their territory, and the survivors of three ships wrecked on the shore in 1554.
From 1804 to the opening of the National Seashore in 1970 the island was used almost solely for ranching. The most prominent and lasting exceptions to this have been the development of the tourism industry (including the development of the town of South Padre Island and the National Seashore) beginning in the early 1920's, and the exploitation of the island's oil and natural gas reserves beginning in the 1950's.
One of the most interesting periods of the island's history was from the Second World War to 1960, when a Navy bombing range existed on the northern section of the island.
Four nations have owned Padre Island at different times. The first was Spain, which owned Padre Island from its entry into the New World until the Mexican Revolution of 1820. The second was Mexico, which owned Padre Island from 1821 until 1836, when the newly formed Republic of Texas claimed the area between the Nueces river and the Rio Grande. The Republic of Texas owned Padre Island from its formation until the War with Mexico of 1845-1848, when its territory was acquired by the United States. Throughout these times, the island has been known by several names, with Padre Island being only the most recent. It has also been known as la Island Blanca (White Island) and Isla de los Malaguitas (Island of the Malaquites--a native American people) among others.
Because the National Seashore endeavors to preserve Padre Island in its natural state, visiting the island is very much like stepping back into the past. With few exceptions, visitors can now see Padre Island as it has existed throughout most of its history and how it is described in the few extant descriptions by the early explorers.
The information for the history section of this website has been gleaned primarily from the ; the Padre Island National Seashore Vegetative History by Horizon Environmental Services, Inc., June 1989; the Handbook of Texas Online; and the Padre Island National Seashore Administrative History.
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