The Curry Settlement

The Curry Settlement was the name for the community that developed on Padre Island starting around the time of the Civil War and which continued for many years. It was named for one of its inhabitants, Carrey Curry, who raised cattle and was a Baptist minister. So far as can be determined from local (Corpus Christi) records, it probably contained a dozen or less ranching families. Other occupations on the island during its existence and which probably involved members of the settlement included harvesting salt from the Laguna Madre, working at the Quarantine office at Corpus Christi Pass, working at the meat packery, hunting birds for feathers, selling live sea turtles for meat, ferryman or boatman, and working for the county office of Wreckmaster. Reportedly, some families moved out to the Curry Settlement from Corpus Christi in order to escape the Yellow Fever epidemics of 1867 and 1873.