Records of the National Council show that the Corpus Christi Council started In 1919, with seven troops made up of 161 scouts. The population of the council’s area was given as 10,789. R. R. Witt was the Scout Executive and the budget was $2,106.00.
In 1920, the National report lists representatives of the three councils as follows:
A. D. Bordeaux – Laredo Council
R. J. Kleberg – Kingsville Council
Roy Miller – Corpus Christi Council
A 1920 national report listed Laredo, Corpus Christi, and Kingsville councils. Kingsville was a second class council through 1924. A second class council utilized volunteers or part-timers while first class councils had a full-time Scout Executive. A first class council had to serve a population of about 25,000 and raise $5,000 to cover its first year of operation. The name of the Corpus Christi Council was changed in 1924 to the Nueces Valley Council. During 1928, it was expanded to include Nueces and seven other counties.
The Laredo Council was formed in 1920. The name was changed to Webb County Council in 1922. In 1926 the council was enlarged to 5 counties and renamed the Aztec Council. The depression took its toll as the council ceased operations in 1933. It became a direct service council for a short time before merging with the Nueces Valley Council.Our region’s first Eagle Scout was Dr. McIver Furman, who earned that rank in 1920 (pictured at left). Dr. Furman later went on to found the Driscoll Children’s Hospital in 1953. The hospital is dedicated to providing the very best in quality care to all children. Having Dr. Furman as our region’s first Eagle Scout was an excellent beginning for the character education efforts of the Boy Scouts of America in South Texas.
The Guadalupe Council was established in Victoria in late 1924. The council office was later moved to Cuero. In 1926, the name was changed to ,and the office moved to Yoakum. During 1933, 1934 and 1935 the council was divided up among neighboring councils with Victoria and Calhoun counties going to the Gulf Coast Council.
The Nueces Valley Council had become the Gulf Coast Council in 1929. Refugio county joined the council in 1934. Besides Victoria and Calhoun, Goliad, Jim Hogg and Zapata counties were added in 1935. Zapata was transferred to the Lower Rio Grande Valley Council in 1940. In 1941, Jackson County was transferred from the Sam Houston Council.
A new headquarters building was built on Baldwin Street in Corpus Christi in 1954. It served the Council well for 44 years.
Camp Karankawa was built in 1944 on land just north of the State Park at Lake Corpus Christi, just outside of Mathis, Texas. In 1958 and 1959, Camp Karankawa was moved as Lake Corpus Christi was enlarged with the completion of the Wesley E. Seale Dam in 1958. The swimming pool which was a gift of the Earl Sams Foundation, was built at Camp Karankawa in 1970, and in August of of the same year the camp sustained damages of over $6,000 as a result of Hurricane Celia. The past decade has been one of refurbishing and renewal of the historic camp.
Additional land for camping came in July of 1969 when Marcus Mauritz and Mrs. Adair Nelson, of Ganado, gave the council 145 acres of land located 5 miles north of Gandao. The camp was named the Mauritz Scout Reservation and was outfitted as a patrol-cooking camp and operated as a summer camp until 1979, when it was converted to a week-end camping facility.
Bee and Live Oak Counties were transferred from the Alamo Area Council to the Gulf Coast Council in March of 1972. This brought the total counties to 17.
Camp Huisache near Laredo was fully developed beginning in 1997 when the Lamar Bruni Vergara Youth Center was completed. The trustees of Lamar Bruni Vergara Trust, J. C. Martin Jr. and Solomon Casseb, provided a grant of $750,000.00 for a multi-purpose building that combines several of the projects in the original master plan. The Lamar Bruni Vergara Trust was established by the trustees to honor the memory of the late Lamar Bruni Vergara, a generous benefactor and a sterling example of true caring for the community of Laredo.
The beautiful multi-use facility combines the caretaker residence, training and program center and a camp office that would also serve as a district office for the Aztec District in Laredo. The structure includes plenty of secure storage for program equipment. The innovative design and architectural work was contributed by Robert Sepulveda and had been recognized by the National Engineering Service as an outstanding example of a multi-use facility. It has been included in several exhibits at national meetings of the BSA. We someday hope to add a modest size scout shop to serve the Scouts and Scouters of Webb County and surrounding communities.
We completed the construction of the main facility on the property, the youth center, in May of 1997. Also completed a year prior was the first permanent program shelter. We have recently completed a new co-ed shower and bathroom facility. We have nearly completed the development of five additional campsites. Other program facilities will be developed as quickly as capitol funds are raised for these projects.
A new service center was finished in 1999, complete with a well-stocked National Scout Shop named for the property donor. We are especially grateful to Mr. Lucien Flournoy of Alice, Texas, for his visionary gift which made our new Service Center possible. Our new Service Center has been named in his honor. For the gift of our building site, we are truly grateful to Jeannette Holloway. Our Scout Shop has been named in her honor. A landmark for our new facility is the original statue created by Laredo artisan Armando Hinojosa. The Beautiful Statue depicts a Scout’s love of country, family traditions and values. “On My Honor” is a gift of the J. Jorge Verduzco Family and the Aztec District Scouting community.
The council changed its name to the South Texas Council at its annual business meeting in December of 2002.
|1929-1930||L. H. Gross||1931||Felix Hobbs|
|1932||George Gilliam||1933||L. M. Adams|
|1934||Birge Holt||1935-1936||John Conoly|
|1937-1942||Hood Boone||1943-1954||W. D. Boone|
|1955-1957||R. J. Sechrist||1958-1959||Ben H. Sloane|
|1960-1961||Joseph F. Wolff||1962-1963||John A. Ferris|
|1964-1966||J. Harrell Curlee||1967-1969||Ben Glusing|
|1970-1971||R. C. Thwing||1972-1973||Jack McKenzie|
|1974-1975||Erie Thompson||1976-1977||J. H. Shields|
|1977-1979||Fred Repper||1979-1981||B. W. Hunton|
|1981-1983||E. M. Peterson||1984-1985||John Brooke|
|1986-1987||B. W. Teague||1987-1989||Jack Spencer|
|1988-1989||Jack Spencer||1990-1991||Phil Neessen|
|1992-1993||David Brannon||1994-1996||Jeff Jung|
|1997-1998||Charles White||1999-2000||John Norris|
|2001-2003||Charles Cazalas||2004-2005||Charles L. Doraine|
|2006-2008||Charles Zahn||2009-2010||Richard Scanio|
|1919||R.R. Witt||1920||Leon Folson|
|1921||D.A. Huddleston||1922||McIver Furman (Acting)|
|1923||I.C. Kerridge, Jr. (Acting)||1924-1925||Ira H. Horton|
|1925-1926||Brice W. Draper||1926-1927||I.C. Kerridge, Jr. (Acting)|
|1928-1932||Fred A. Reese||1932-1935||Charles Meyers|
|1935-1938||Paul A. Thieme||1938-1942||William B. McAdams|
|1942-1965||A.C. Williamson||1966-1970||Louis E. Rodwell|
|1970-1975||Herbert L. McCoggins||1975-1984||Ray A. Smith|
|1985-1989||Marc H. Reynerson||1989-2008||John O. Thurston|
|2008-Present||John K. Beauregard|
|* I. C. Kerridge, Jr. was Executive Protem three times. First time was for a period between Furman and Horton; then, between Horton and Draper; and again for a period after Draper.|