Classical Revival courthouse turned temporary morgue after the 1919 hurricane — abandoned since 1977, scheduled for demolition
1100 N Mesquite St, Corpus Christi, TX 78401
Research updated June 2026
Age
All Ages (ghost tour 18+ recommended)
Cost
$
Ghost tour through RJA Ghost Tours: Adults $30, Military/First Responder $27, Children (3-11) $25. Building itself is not publicly accessible — exterior only from street.
Access
Limited Access
Downtown street-level exterior; building interior not publicly accessible
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1914 · National Register of Historic Places (1976) · Classical Revival Architecture · 1919 Hurricane Temporary Morgue Site · Nueces County Government History
The 1914 Nueces County Courthouse was the third courthouse built on Nueces County land, completed at a cost exceeding $250,000 and designed by architect Harvey L. Page in Classical Revival style. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976, one year before the county abandoned it.
The building survived the 1919 Florida Keys hurricane — one of the most destructive storms to strike Texas — when a 16-foot storm surge devastated downtown Corpus Christi and caused roughly $20 million in damage (1919 dollars). Robert Simpson, later co-developer of the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale, reportedly took shelter inside the courthouse during the storm. The dead were laid out in front of the building afterward so families could identify them; the local morgue could not absorb the scale of casualties.
After 63 years of operation, Nueces County vacated the building in 1977 and relocated to a new courthouse on Lipan Street. The building has stood empty since. As of 2026, Nueces County has secured $2 million from TIRZ #3 for demolition, with county officials targeting a summer 2026 start pending documentation requirements. The Texas Historical Commission removed its preservation easement in 2025.
Sources
The haunting reputation of the Old Nueces County Courthouse centers on its role as an improvised morgue after the 1919 hurricane killed hundreds across Corpus Christi. Paranormal investigators who have entered the building report audio recordings of unexplained sounds and photographs showing orb formations in the long-vacant hallways.
The most consistently reported apparition is a Woman in White — a pale female figure described as wearing a flowing gown and appearing in the empty corridors. RJA Ghost Tours, which covers the building as a regular stop on its Corpus Christi walking tour, documents this figure as one of the most frequently reported entities in their operator history. Some accounts describe her as a woman wrongfully convicted during the courthouse's operational years; others connect her to the hurricane dead.
The building's combination of mass-casualty history, decades of abandonment, and the absence of any interior maintenance or access has preserved a quality that investigators describe as unusually intact — no renovations have altered the spaces where the 1919 dead were brought.
Notable Entities
A two-hour walking ghost tour through downtown Corpus Christi led by certified paranormal investigators. The Old Nueces County Courthouse is a featured stop, with the guide covering the 1919 hurricane morgue use, the Woman in White apparition, and documented investigation findings. Tours depart from the corner of Hughes Street and Mesquite Street.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
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