Quintana, Texas: 7-13
November 2012. Quintana is an island
(~100 permanent residents) located between the mouth of the Old
Brazos and New Brazos Rivers on the Gulf of Mexico, about 90 minutes southeast
of Houston. The town is a non-commercialized, beautiful, natural family beach
and also home to wildlife and a bird sanctuary. It offers six miles of
beautiful, natural sand beaches. Our
campground, Quintana Beach County Park (QBCP), and Bryan Beach State Park are
both located on the island. QBCP is a unique, 50-acre park offering large,
paved RV campsites, and clean, but rustic restrooms and showers.
Elevated wooden boardwalks provide a view of the Gulf of Mexico and the dunes.
Historical homes, pavilions, and a miles of pedestrian beach offer plenty
of room to hike, explore, or fly a kite, which we saw several people doing
while we were there. Boating facilities, a fishing pier and numerous grassy areas are
also available for tent campers or day visitors.
Quintana campground boardwalk; campground in the background
Quintana beach area, with campground buildings in the background
Quintana's history dates back to 1528 when survivors of a
Spanish expedition/search party looking for Montezuma's gold were adrift and
dying of thirst when they noticed some muddy water flowing into the Gulf. The water was drinkable and the explorers
followed the current to the mouth of the river calling it Los Brazos de Dios,
the Arms of God. Later, Stephen F.
Austin's colonists landed the schooner Lively
here in 1821. Austin was commissioned to
lay out the town in 1833 and named it after a General Quintana, a deputy minister
in the Mexican Government, who was sympathetic to Austin's efforts to colonize
this part of Texas. Quintana prospered and
became a popular resort for plantation owners who built huge summer homes on
the beach.
During the Civil War a confederate fort guarded the mouth of
the Brazos. During the last decade of
the 19th century the population increased dramatically as a result
of work on a harbor and jetties and other improvements related to a deep-water
port, and Quintana was incorporated in 1891. During the last 100 years, however, six
hurricanes have leveled nearly every structure and at least two major outbreaks
of yellow fever and cholera kept Quintana's population in check. The 1915 hurricane turned the area into a
ghost town.
During WWII, the gun mounds at the base of shipping canal –
now within QBCP’s lands – were erected to protect Dow's nearby magnesium
plant. Guns were placed atop the mounds
to protect the defense plant from aircraft, warships and submarines.
WWII gun emplacement, looking out at the Gulf of Mexico
View of same gun from our campsite
Our campsite with WWII gun in the distance
Another view of our campsite, looking toward the Gulf
With the jetties intact, it was now possible to maintain
dredged water depths, opening the way for modern shipping. The discovery of sulphur nearby paved the way
for the first of the local chemical industries.
But flooding of the river could no longer be tolerated and in 1929 the Army
Corps of Engineers dug a new channel to the Gulf and the old river was sealed
three miles above the mouth. At about
the same time the Intracoastal Waterway – which runs all the way to Florida –
was also completed, turning Quintana into a man-made island.
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