Novillo Line Camp: Cultural Landscape Inventory, Padre Island National Seashore, National Park Service

Cowley, Jill; Mardorf, Carrie

The Novillo Line Camp is the northernmost of four line camps built by Patrick Dunn on Padre Island to support the effective functioning of his cattle ranch. The camp is located about 2.2 miles south of the north boundary of Padre Island National Seashore, situated in the barrier island environment where the southeastern shoreline of Texas meets the Gulf of Mexico. It is just north of the Ranger Station and across from Bird Island Basin. When Patrick Dunn came to Padre Island in 1879, he found the island to be an ideal site to establish his cattle ranch. The area had been grazed since the 1760s and offered abundant native grasses. The surrounding water served as a natural fence that contained the cattle to the island, while the lack of dense chaparral and overstory trees provided an environment conducive to herding cattle. In support of the ranch, Dunn constructed a series of line camps spaced approximately 15 miles apart—the distance cattle could be driven in one day. Line camps were small outposts on grazing land that primarily consisted of fences and corrals in which to separate and work on the cattle. Ranch hands were temporarily stationed at these camps to “ride the line” as they drove cattle to market. Novillo was the northernmost of the camps during the late-19th century ranch activity. Cattle were held here before being herded across the Packery Channel to the Texas mainland to be sold. Beginning in the late 1940s with the increase in motor vehicles, Novillo became the main gathering spot for loading cattle to market and the other line camps declined. At the camp, Dunn constructed two bunkhouses, a cookhouse, a series of corrals and fences, and a large fenced-in area called a trap that enclosed the entire area. The isolated island provided building materials in the form of driftwood and lumber that washed up on the beaches. Dunn used these materials to his advantage, creating functional, vernacular structures. Patrick Dunn continued to obtain land and operate the ranch until his death in 1937. At that time, his son, Burton Dunn, managed the cattle ranch making improvements to the line camp. Between the late-1940s and late-1960s, Burton added a windmill, two concrete water tanks, a road constructed of shell, and cattle loading chutes to accommodate vehicular truck access to the camp. The Dunn family continued cattle operations until 1971, when the last cattle were removed from the park. Since 1971, minimal alterations have been made to the landscape. Repairs were made to the bunkhouses and cookhouse in the mid-1970s in preparation for a 1976 ranching demonstration. A Historic Structures Report was completed in 1979, which identified “benign neglect” as the preferred treatment option. Shortly thereafter, one of the bunkhouses was destroyed in a fire. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, the remaining buildings and structures of the line camp were allowed to actively deteriorate. A shift in park management in the late 1990s marked renewed interest in the line camp and efforts were made to stabilize the remaining structures. The bunkhouse and cookhouse were stabilized in 2002. Visitor parking and an interpretive boardwalk were proposed shortly thereafter; construction funding was anticipated for Summer, 2011. Though the main features of the camp have been stabilized and repaired, a number of the corrals and fences remain in a deteriorated state. The camp is eligible for listing on the National Register for its associations with areas of architecture, agriculture, and archeology. Additionally, the landscape retains integrity from the 1879 to 1971 period of significance, marking the span of years that the ranch was in operation. Overall, the Novillo Line Camp continues to demonstrate how the unique island environment contributed to the development of the cattle ranch.

Novillo Line Camp: Cultural Landscape Inventory, Padre Island National Seashore, National Park Service

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