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PORT ISABEL — The city hopes to build a visitor center showcasing the history of the Spanish shipwreck of 1554.
“It’s the oldest shipwreck in North America and yet nobody can visit it and it’s so close,” said Port Isabel City Manager Jared Hockema.
In a partnership with the Texas Historical Commission (THC), the project would be part of the next phase of developing tourism in the area, which drives the city’s economy, said Hockema.
It’s exciting discovering new audiences to tell a very old story, said Valerie Bates from the THC.
Bates works as the THC’s site manager for the nearly 175-year-old Port Isabel Lighthouse and is the city’s marketing director.
To people who’ve known about the shipwreck, historians are still learning more about it, she said.
The San Esteban flotilla, one of a group of ships leaving from Veracruz, ran into the coast of Texas in the 16th century, Bates explained.
“It was ill-fated from the start,” she said. “It is very difficult to get a flotilla loaded, outfitted, provisions, crew, perfect weather — all those things that would make a journey over the water successful — to get them all lined up.”
A small group ended up in a little boat and rowed themselves down to Mexico City successfully, another stayed behind and waited for the Spanish government to salvage the wreckage, she said.
Another group decided they could walk to Tampico, with only a few surviving, according to the National Park Service.
“They were very vulnerable to the elements, to hunger, to weather and then to various groups of Indigenous peoples,” Bates said.
Hockema noted that the story connects to the present day because the THC’s Texas Antiquities Committee was established to stop the looting of historical artifacts like objects from the shipwreck.
The visitor center project is still in early stages, said Bates, adding that there’s still a great deal of fundraising to do.
“We’re certainly going to be a voice in Austin to see that this advances,” she said.
Other museums in the state display artifacts from the shipwreck, she continued, adding that the THC owns a great deal of objects.
“Because we have location, we feel like we’re ideally suited to tell that story,” said Bates, noting that it “bookends the history of the lighthouse” given the tower’s representation as a place of exploration and protection.
The shipwreck is 30 miles north of the city, near the Mansfield Cut, which splits North Padre Island and South Padre Island, according to a Texas State Historical Association article.
Bates said that the ship is not visible and is rubble. Because the THC wants to preserve the site, she noted it’s not a place people should be trying to explore.
Before any physical work on the project can begin, the city would have to prove the economic impact of the project, Bates explained, as well as demonstrate that the center could provide a “profound and complete experience on the story.”
“Our sales taxes have been growing over and over every year,” said Hockema. “We’ve got a new hotel coming in, potentially another large hotel that’s coming in.”
The city plans to work with architect Steve Tillotson and Associates on the potential visitor center. It also approved a service agreement with G&A Strategy and Design LLC, according to a resolution the city commission approved on Tuesday.