Padre Island hints that another land fraud is likely to be perpetrated
Moments in Time is a collection of recovered newspaper briefs and other publications, compiled by local historian, Steve Hathcock, offering a look back at the history of the Rio Grande Valley.
Steve Hathcock is a local historian and a regular columnist for the Port Isabel South Padre Press. He has spent many years collecting and sharing the history of the Rio Grande Valley, as well as treasure hunting and formerly owning an Island-based bookstore.
SHORTS AND SNORTS
By the Editor
Ever wonder how the engineers manage to line up pilings exactly as they should on a bridge project? Here’s how it was done with the 927 pilings that went into the two-mile-long causeway that soon will connect the south end of Padre Island with the Texas mainland. The first piling was driven, and a huge, 60-ton steel frame called a template was fastened over it. The template had openings through which other pilings could be placed to fall into correct position. The pilings were simply slipped into the template and driven into the bed of the Laguna Madre. As each row was finished, the template was moved forward — right across the Laguna. The pile driving portion of the job was handled by Schrivner and Richardson of Aransas Pass. General contractor is Heldenfels Brothers, of Corpus Christi. The causeway will be opened in February.
(The Enterprise (Mercedes, Tex.), August 27, 1953)
PADRE ISLAND HINTS THAT ANOTHER LAND FRAUD IS LIKELY TO BE PERPETRATED
The following special from New York to the Galveston News may be of interest to some:In the New York Herald of the 15th instant appears an article with reference to the peddling of Padre Island in that city and rather hinting that another Texas land fraud is trying to be perpetrated. Some of the New York brokers are very emphatic in their denunciations of the parties implicated in the affair, and though no names are mentioned it is well known that certain prominent parties in this city claim to own all of Padre Island and also some 300,000 acres of land under the same grant on the mainland in Cameron county. They claim to have secured this land under a decree of the court a few months since. The article in the New York Herald does not indicate who the parties are, but if there should be any fraud it will be immense, as the property in question is worth fully $500,000.
(The Daily Cosmopolitan (Brownsville, Tex.), August 27, 1884)
Editor’s Note: 19th-Century Speculation Frauds were common in Texas. Promoters in New York and other cities would buy questionable titles or forged documents and sell them to unsuspecting investors, often claiming the entire island.