Novillo Line Camp at Padre Island National Seashore

NOVILLO LINE CAMP

There is one historical site within Padre Island National Seashore, the Novillo Line Camp. It is accessed from Bird Island Basin Road, but in the opposite direction from Bird Island Basin on the Laguna Madre. At times the road is underwater and the entrance gate will be locked. This was the situation when I visited, but so that I could write this article for you, dear reader, I walked through the water, which was calf-high in some places. When dry, you can drive right to what remains of an old cowboy camp, or line camp as it was called.

Bunkhouse at the Novillo Line Camp, Padre Island National Seashore

Novillo Line Camp was the northernmost of four line camps on Padre Island built by the cowboys who worked the ranch of Patrick Dunn, the island’s most successful cattle rancher and the owner of most of Padre Island by the mid-1920s. Padre Island was ideal for cattle ranching because the cows couldn’t escape the island (no fences needed) and there was plenty of grass. Fresh water came from wells drilled in the center of the island.

The line camps on Dunn’s ranch were set up every fifteen miles, and they provided the cowboys with a place to rest as they roamed the expansive ranch. The Novillo Line Camp is the only one to survive, and it was used up until 1971. The camp originally consisted of two bunkhouses (only one stands today), an outdoor kitchen, corrals, and a windmill and water tank (both gone). An L-shaped windbreak built around the kitchen kept the food from being blown away. The corrugated tin now on the windbreak was added in 1970 for the last cattle round-up on the island.

Bunkhouse and kitchen at the Novillo Line Camp, Padre Island National Seashore

Windbreak at the Novillo Line Camp, Padre Island National Seashore.

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