A bus met every boat upon its arrival to take all passengers to the hotel.

Dickinson rebuilt the Casino complete with a water toboggan slide and two fast speedboats to transport passengers to and from the Island. During this period the only Island hotel consistently open was the Tarpon Beach Hotel, located bayside and built in 1908 by Jesus Vega of Brownsville. Over the next 15 years several violent Gulf storms damaged or destroyed much of Tarpon Beach including the Casino Hotel. Repairs took several months but by 1910 Tarpon Beach and the Casino Hotel were once again open to the public.

The wind itself, which barely reached tropical storm status, caused little damage. Most of the destruction was caused by the high waves and a general inundation of the Island.

At Tarpon Beach every building except the light house and the quarantine station were either heavily damaged or destroyed. No lives were lost and all who wished to leave were brought to the boat docks in Port Isabel.Īnother storm swept ashore August 26 and again a large group of tourists sought shelter in the quarantine station. Dozens of fishing shanties were demolished by the action of the waves. Many fishing boats were capsized or cast ashore and one of the ferry boats was missing. Hi Ellen, One of the first buildings constructed at Tarpon Beach in 1908, (Today’s Isla Blanca Park) the Casino Hotel (AKA the Gulf side Hotel) was only open for a short period before disaster struck.Ī hurricane coming ashore during the early summer of 1909, forced visitors to evacuate and seek shelter at the Quarantine Station which was located in the bay near the southern tip of Padre Island. Hathcock, you wrote about the Civic Center on Padre Island last week….can you tell me anything about an old hotel that was a casino?

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