#TBT: Ocean Drive's dangerous S-curve caused fights in 1950s
Ocean Drive is Corpus Christi’s showcase street, giving drivers a view of stately homes and glimpses of the bay. But back in the 1950s and ‘60s, a particular section of the road was the site of so many accidents and deaths that the city took steps to smooth out the dangerous S-curve.
Ocean Drive started as a streetcar line to the old Alta Vista Hotel, so the S-curve came about because the road snaked around the property where the large resort stood. The hotel stood empty for nearly a decade before it burned to the ground in a fire in 1927. By this time, large houses began cropping up along the roadway, and V.M. Donigan purchased the old hotel site and built his own mansion (though not as large as the original resort).
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The S-curve is located in the 3200 block of Ocean, near Alta Plaza. It was widened in 1953 with land purchased from the Donigan estate and a daughter, Lucy Welch. This widening eliminated near 90-degree turns in the S-curve, but it was still considered a hazard to drivers, particularly at night and at high speeds.
The issue was revisited in 1956, with city planners and the City Council agreeing the curve needed further correcting. Homeowners along the spot supported the idea at first, but tensions about how much property each homeowner would lose rose and the negotiations devolved.
A new plan was drawn up and three property owners’ land was dropped from the proposal, leaving only land owned by the Donigan estate and Welch, on the bay side of the project, subject to the plan. When the city filed condemnation proceedings on the land in January 1959, Welch immediately sued.
Many of the Caller-Times articles at the time focused on Mayor Farrell Smith’s involvement in the actions. He was accused of both trying to block the project and trying to benefit from it, as he owned property along the disputed area. A court heard the condemnation suit and approved the sale of the land, paying the estate and Welch $20,925 for their property.
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But that particular project never moved forward. Smith, elected in 1955, ran again in 1959. Opposition ads in the Caller-Times showed photos of Smith’s home near the S-curve, stating Smith just wanted a newly paved street in front of his house. Ellroy King defeated Smith in the April 7 election. At the May 13 City Council meeting, the council canceled the Ocean Drive project. If you needed any clue there was no love lost between Smith and King, another article about that May 13 council meeting included this council business item:
“Heard former Mayor Farrell Smith upbraid Mayor Ellroy King for the latter’s statement that there had been a lot of ‘phony baloney’ (sic) put out when telling voters that $300,000 would pay for air conditioning Memorial Coliseum. The lowest bid received so far was $419,000.”
The matter was dropped for several years, and accidents continued. But a horrific crash at the curve in November 1963 that killed three 16-year-old boys became a catalyst to finally straighten the roadway. Through numerous planning commission and council actions, most of Ocean Drive was widened to four lanes with a dividing median in 1969. Though the curve remains, the sharp turns were smoothed out and the long back-and-forth finally laid to rest.
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: Ocean Drive's dangerous S-curve caused fights in 1950s
