#TBT: Corpus Christi built its first skyscraper in 1927
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The Nixon Building was Corpus Christi’s first skyscraper, if 12 floors can be considered tall enough to scrape the sky. Regardless, it was the tallest building Corpus Christi had ever had.
The contract to start construction was signed at the beginning of June 1926. After 203 working days, the building was opened March 27, 1927.
J. Maston Nixon was the mastermind behind the Nixon Building. Nixon was born in Luling in 1896 and attended boarding school in San Antonio after his father’s death. He attended Draughon’s Business College in San Antonio, then moved to Robstown at 18. He joined the Army in 1917 and served in World War I, then returned to Robstown.
While there he served as president of the Robstown Chamber of Commerce and organized the Blackland Special. This 10-day train trip toured areas considered prime farming land in Nueces, Jim Wells, San Patricio and Kleberg counties and attracted 100 potential buyers. Nearly 100,000 acres of land was turned into cultivation following the successful trip.
In 1925, Nixon moved to Corpus Christi and three years later, Nixon and investor H.L. Kokernot opened Corpus Christi’s first multi-story building on the bluff, beginning the transformation of the uptown bluff from residential to business district.
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When asked if the city, still considered small in the 1920s, could support a building so large, Nixon told the reporter, “Of course. Corpus Christi right now is fundamentally sounder than it was a year ago, I believe, despite the pessimistic viewpoint of those who are not familiar with the situation.”
He cited the lack of inflation, the absence of speculators in the city and a forecasted increase in cotton shipping from the one-year-old Port of Corpus Christi.
The Corpus Christi Caller on March 27, 1927, heralded opening day for the building with a Nixon Building special section. The 12 pages carried articles extolling the virtues of the building, from its steel-reinforced concrete frame, fireproof construction, ability to withstand 200-mph winds, spacious offices, and even the eight gargoyles snarling from on the roof.
Ground floor services included a barber shop run by C. F. Haynie and a coffee shop run by cousins Clem Govatos and John Nicols. The coffee shop later became the popular Nixon Café.
An editorial on the front page of the special section praised Nixon and all involved in the arrival of the building, concluding with an observation on the future growth of the city.
“Tomorrow it may be dwarfed; as great as it is, it is not the ultimate for Corpus Christi. Today, however, it stands a towering monument. All of us may be proud of it.”
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A year later, a four-story addition to the Nixon Building was completed and in 1940 another four stories were added, bringing the annex up to eight stories. True to predictions, cotton brokers filled the building, before being replaced by oil companies over the next decade.
Ownership of the building passed to the Baptist Foundation of Texas in 1940, part of deal that saw all of the Kokernot-Nixon properties transferred to the charitable organization – delayed for several years because the foundation objected to beer sales in the building’s café.
In April 1947, oilman Sam E. Wilson (and husband of socialite and philanthropist Ada Wilson) purchased the building and several other properties on the block. Wilson paid one million dollars cash, and another $300,000 in notes. The gargoyles also came down with the purchase, and the Nixon Building became the Wilson Building.
Wilson proceeded to add another skyscraper to the city’s uptown skyline, the 21-story Wilson Tower, that included a large red neon letter W perched atop the building that revolved. The top of the tower was reserved for the Wilson’s two-story penthouse, with panoramic views of the city viewed through three sets of floor-to-ceiling windows, a mahogany-and-leather bar, three bedrooms and three bathrooms.
Sam Wilson died in 1957, and Ada Wilson in 1977. Ownership of the building has passed to a number of different companies through the years, but the original structures all stand today, making up the Wilson Plaza still looking over the Corpus Christi skyline.
Allison Ehrlich writes about things to do in South Texas and has a weekly Throwback Thursday column on local history.
This article originally appeared on Corpus Christi Caller Times: #TBT: Corpus Christi built its first skyscraper in 1927
