Lipantitlan State Historic Site

Lipantitlan State Historic Site is 5 acres east of Orange Grove in Nueces County. The property was deeded by a private owner in 1937 and transferred by Legislative Act in 1949 to the State Parks Board from the Board of Control. It was opened in 1949.

Near this area, a wooden picket fort was constructed around 1831 by Mexican forces in anticipation of trouble with Anglo immigrants. The fort apparently was named for a camp of Lipan Apaches in the vicinity. In 1835, the small guard force that held the fort surrendered it to Texan forces without a shot being fired.

In 1842, a battalion of Texas volunteers camped in this area. In an attempt to lay claim to the territory between the Nueces River and the Rio Grande, the camp was seized by Mexican general Antonio Canales, but the Mexican forces later retreated. Around 10 years later, during the Mexican War, troops under General Zachary Taylor passed through this area on their way to the Rio Grande