While the Spanish explorer Alonzo Alvarez de Pineda discovered and named Corpus Christi Bay in 1519, no permanent settlements were established until Henry Kinney and his partner William Aubrey established a trading post on the west shore of Corpus Christi Bay in 1840. Attacks by Mexican bandits forced the abandonment of the post in 1842, but Kinney returned later that year and reestablished his business. A post office opened at the same time with Aubrey as postmaster renaming the town to Corpus Christi.

When U.S. troops set up camp here in preparation for war with Mexico in March 1845, there was still just a small trading post. The army remained until March 1846, when it marched south to the Rio Grande to establish the border with Mexico. About a year later, the town changed its name from Kinney's Trading Post to Corpus Christi.

Life in Corpus Christi has been greatly influenced by its harbor.  The town remained a small Texas coast port until the Aransas pass was dredged to a depth of eight feet following the civil war.  The town then began to grow quickly until the city was hit by devastating hurricanes in 1916 and 1919.  The channel into the harbor was deepened again in the 1920’s and the port has grown to become the sixth largest port in the United States. A seawall protecting the city from flooding was built in 1939–41 and a bridge over the harbor was built in 1959.