Contact Information
Phone: (361)949-8558
The Rules
- #1. No Glass Containers
#2. No Camping, Sleeping on Pier
#3. No Profanity
#4. Hook and Line Fishing Only
#5. No Cast Nets - #6. Three Rod Limit Per Person
#7. No Alcohol
#8. No Flammables (lanterns, heaters, ect..) - #9. No Diving From Pier
- #10. No Surfboards or Floating Devices
- #11. No Climbing on Handrails
The Owners
There are three partners that decided to buy the operation because they used to like eating on the beach. Michael just likes the beach and everything that goes with it. Mike worked in several restaurants and ran the back end of a cajun restaurant in Taos Nm in the 80's and that is why he was nominated to run the pier.
Mike grew up on the Texas coast in the houston/Kema area as a kid and surfed around Surfside, Corpus and Port Isabel. He surfed the old pier when I was a teenager.
Larry grew up in Cape Cod and he likes it here because it reminds him of home without the snow..
"We are comitted to improving the Restaurant, service, bait and tackle shop and making the pier a destination for all to enjoy." We are planning a Labor day bash on Sunday September 7th. he day before labor day and will be serving fajita tacos and free beer till its gone. We will have our grand re-opening when are Beer/Wine license is approved and will have a party at a soon to be specified date. The plan is to have the Bait//Tackle shop open 24 hours and the resturant open from 7 till midnight. We are experimenting with the menu and will be expanding it once we get a few more pieces of kitchen equipment.
History
Actually there have been three Bob Hall Piers all built at the same site but at different times. The first two piers had one large enemy - Hurricanes! In 1961, Hurricane Carla destroyed the first Bob Hall Pier, which was originally built in the 1950's and was named after a Nueces County Commissioner of that era. It was a wooden structure only 600 feet long.
In 1962, Nueces County rebuilt the pier, again out of wood, but this time they made it twice as long. At 1,200 feet it was the longest fishing pier on the Texas Coast. Hurricane Beulah blew through the Coastal Bend in 1967 and trimmed the pier to half its original length. The County decided, that was a bit too short, so in 1968 a new wooden section, 127 feet, was added to the damaged pier. In its heyday in the 1970's nearly 3000 people a day would fish and walk upon it.
Everything was fine until 1980. When the pier was inspected, it was found the seaward 150 feet was suffering from structural damage because of years of continuous wave action. The 150 foot end of the pier was then closed to the public while repairs were being made. A few months later the pier was reopened, but the County was keeping a close eye on it for the life of that wooden pier was nearing its end.
While plans were being made to build a completely new Bob Hall Pier, this time out of reinforced concrete, Hurricane Allen hit the Texas coast in August of 1980 and completely destroyed the wooden pier. The only thing left were a few wooden post sticking out of the surf. This certainly was great planning for now the county would not have to pay for tearing down the old pier.
The basic parts of the new pier were designed to fit together like a giant Chinese puzzle with no bolts or pins. The different elements of the pier would be held together by gravity - the strongest force in nature. The design is thought to be storm proof. If a major storm slams waves against the underside of the pier, the concrete deck squares will pop out and hopefully allow the rest of the structure to remain in tact. When walking on the pier take a look at the construction and see if you can figure out how it was put together.
Bob Hall Pier was built by Isle Construction Company, at a cost of 1.3 million dollars, and was paid for by the Federal Government. The current Bob Hall Pier was started in 1982,and finished in 1983. The user fees are put into a special fund to keep the pier in good repair for all to enjoy. The present Bob Hall Pier is 1,240 feet long and 15.5 feet wide, with the T-Head at the end being 165 feet long and a little over 19 feet wide.