Texas Now Magazine Presenting the "Texas Coast Experience" | Page 30
THE
Kenedy
SOUTH TEXAS RANCHING EMPIRE
C
overing 1,305 miles, Highway 77 has been
witness to almost one hundred years of history
in the making. In 2005, you could travel as
far north as Sioux City, Idaho, and as far as south as
Brownsville. Here it connected (as it does currently)
with the Mexican Federal Highway 180.
Y
ED
EN
K
N
FLI
MIF
20
PETRA VE
LA DE
KENEDY
An hour’s drive time south from Corpus Christi will find
you passing through the tiny town of Sarita. Founded
in 1904 this small and significant piece of history was
named for the lone survivor of the last generation of
the powerful Kenedy Family. Their ranch “La Parra”
could only be held in comparison with that of the King
Family of King Ranch fame. With the death of the last
descendent of Mifflin and Petra Vela Kenedy in 1961,
unlike their neighbors and close friends the Kings,
the Kenedy name would remain only as an important
part of South Texas history.