When Russell Lee traveled through Texas, he was charged with photographing the conditions of the Great Depression, but many of his photographs here could have been taken in any year of our city’s history. What he captured was simply the everyday life of people of the time.
From the earliest people in the Coastal Bend, our coastal waters have been a destination for sustenance and enjoyment—and even treatment, in an era when doctors prescribed warmer temperatures and coastal breezes as cures for various ailments. Lee captured not the misery of the Depression, but companionship, hope and anticipation of the next bite, and the beauty locals enjoyed while waiting.
If this photo looks familiar, it may be because it inspired “Temporal Tides,” a 2024 Mural Fest addition to downtown by Anthony Brooks. The mural is best viewed from the 400 Block of Water Street. Using the color and texture of the building’s brick as the rocks of the jetty along with shadows for depth, Brooks brings the scene to life in a majestic way.
The transformation of this everyday moment in 1939 into a three-story-high mural in 2024 is a reminder that as the city around us grows and changes, some things remain constant. The shoreline is still a place to gather, watch and enjoy each other’s company and the view. When folks made the decision to put their lines in the water that day 87 years ago, they could not have known they were going to be part of memories formed in downtown Corpus Christi for decades to come.
