- Mustang Island State Park
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Mustang Island State Park is a state park located south of the city of Port Aransas, Texas, United States on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico that covers 3,954 acres (1,600 ha) and has a 5-mile (8.0 km) beachfront. The land was acquired from private owners in 1972 and opened to the public in 1979.
Contents
History
The earliest known inhabitants of Mustang Island were Karankawa Indians. The Karankawas were a hunter-gatherer people, and lived off the shellfish and mussels they caught in the Gulf.
The first historical record of Mustang Island was by Alonso Alvarez de Pineda, a Spanish Explorer, who charted the island in 1519. In 1747. Padre Island was part of a Spanish land grant to Padre Nicholas Balli about 1800, and the Balli family established a ranch that lasted for several decades. Records show that an Englishman named Robert A. Mercer and one H. L. Kinney both ran cattle on Mustang Island in the 1850s. A fort was built on Mustang Island during the Mexican-American War, 1846–48, to guard the entrance to Aransas Bay. During the Civil War, the coastal area was blockaded by the Union Navy, but the conflict ended with no major battles occurring in the area.
Features
Natural
Mustang Island is a coastal barrier island dependent upon sand dunes for protection from storms and the sea. The vegetation holding the dunes in place are drought-resistant species such as sea oats, and soilbind morning glory. The island's fauna is dominated by rodents such as pocket gophers, marsh rice rats and cotton rats. Other small mammals include opossums, raccoons, striped skunks, jackrabbits, cottontail rabbits, armadillos and coyotes. Large numbers of waterfowl and shorebirds are common, as well as several species of hawks and a large variety of songbirds, most of which are migratory.
Recreational
The park offers camping, picnicking, fishing, swimming, hiking mountain biking, sunbathing, and birdwatching.
External links
Protected Areas of Texas Federal El Orcoquisac Archeological District · Fort Davis National Historic Site · Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park · Palo Alto Battlefield National Historical Park · San Antonio Missions National Historical ParkAnahuac · Aransas · Attwater Prairie Chicken · Balcones Canyonlands · Big Boggy · Brazoria · Buffalo Lake · Grulla · Hagerman · Laguna Atascosa · Lower Rio Grande Valley · McFaddin · Muleshoe · San Bernard · Santa Ana · Texas Point · Trinity RiverState Abilene · Atlanta · Balmorhea · Barton Warnock Environmental Education Center · Bastrop · Bentsen-Rio Grande Valley · Big Bend Ranch · Big Spring · Blanco · Boca Chica · Bonham · Brazos Bend · Buescher · Caddo Lake · Caprock Canyons · Cedar Hill · Choke Canyon · Cleburne · Colorado Bend · Cooper Lake · Copper Breaks · Daingerfield · Davis Mountains · Devils River State Natural Area · Devil's Sinkhole State Natural Area · Dinosaur Valley · Eisenhower · Enchanted Rock State Natural Area · Estero Llano Grande · Fairfield Lake · Falcon · Fort Boggy · Fort Parker State Park · Fort Richardson State Park · Franklin Mountains · Galveston Island · Garner · Goliad · Goose Island · Government Canyon State Natural Area · Guadalupe River · Hill Country State Natural Area · Honey Creek State Natural Area · Huntsville · Indian Lodge · Inks Lake · Kickapoo Cavern · Lake Arrowhead · Lake Bob Sandlin · Lake Brownwood · Lake Casa Blanca International · Lake Colorado City · Lake Corpus Christi · Lake Livingston · Lake Mineral Wells · Lake Somerville · Lake Tawakoni · Lake Texana · Lake Whitney · Lockhart · Longhorn Cavern · Lost Creek Reservoir State Trailway · Lost Maples State Natural Area · Martin Creek Lake · Martin Dies, Jr. · Matagorda Island · McKinney Falls · Meridian · Mission Tejas · Monahans Sandhills · Mother Neff State Park · Mustang Island · Palmetto · Palo Duro Canyon · Pedernales Falls · Possum Kingdom · Purtis Creek · Ray Roberts Lake · Resaca de la Palma · San Angelo · Sea Rim · Sheldon Lake · South Llano River · Stephen F. Austin · Tyler · Village Creek · Walter Umphrey · Wyler Aerial TramwayActon · Admiral Nimitz · Barrington Living History Farm at Washington-on-the-Brazos · Battleship TEXAS · Caddoan Mounds · Casa Navarro · Confederate Reunion Grounds · Eisenhower Birthplace · Fanthorp Inn · Fannin Battleground · Fort Griffin · Fort Lancaster · Fort Leaton · Fort McKavett · Fort Richardson · Fulton Mansion · Goliad · Hueco Tanks · Kreische Brewery · Landmark Inn · Levi Jordan Plantation · Lipantitlan · Lyndon B. Johnson · Magoffin Homestead · Mission Espiritu Santo · Mission Rosario · Monument Hill · Penn Farm · Point Isabel Lighthouse · Sabine Pass Battleground · Sam Bell Maxey House · Samuel T. Rayburn House · San Felipe · San Jacinto Battleground · Sauer-Beckmann Farm · Sebastopol House · Seminole Canyon · Starr Family Home · Varner–Hogg Plantation · Washington-on-the-Brazos · Zaragosa BirthplaceState Wildlife TrailsGreat Texas Coastal · Heart of Texas · Panhandle Plains · Prairies and PineywoodsTexas Parks and Wildlife Department Coordinates: 27°40′31″N 97°10′37″W / 27.67528°N 97.17694°W
Categories:- Texas state parks
- Protected areas of Nueces County, Texas
- Texas protected area stubs
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