City guide
4 buildings worth a detour, each with what to look for. Open them on the map, or walk them with the iPhone app, which collects each one you photograph.
The buildings that define the city's architecture.
Corpus Christi Cathedral is the seat of the Catholic Diocese of Corpus Christi, built in 1940 in the Spanish Colonial Revival style. Its roots trace to St. Patrick's Cathedral, the parish's first church, built on land donated by H. L. Kinney and named for the large Irish immigrant population it served; Mass was already being celebrated there in a small adobe church by 1855, two years before that structure was finished.
The Old Nueces County Courthouse is a 1914 government building in downtown Corpus Christi, built for more than $250,000 as the third courthouse to stand on land the county first bought from Henry Lawrence McKinney for $300 in 1853, after a wave of crime across South Texas prompted the purchase. Designed by Harvey L. Page in the Neoclassical style, it served the county until its functions moved to a new courthouse just a few streets away. It has sat vacant since, caught between restoration efforts and repeated threats of demolition.
Photo: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:25or6to4 , CC BY-SA 3.0
The Sidbury-Charlotte House is an 1976-recognized Queen Anne style residence in downtown Corpus Christi, holding dual designation as a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark and a National Register of Historic Places listed place.
Photo: Renelibrary , CC BY-SA 4.0
The Wynn Seale Academy of Fine Arts is a 1986 school building in downtown Corpus Christi, designed in the Mission Revival style and dedicated to fine arts education. It carries dual recognition as a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark and a National Register of Historic Places listing.
Photo: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:25or6to4 , CC BY-SA 3.0
