Refugio

Town and administrative headquarters of Refugio County, south Texas; population (1990) 3,200. It is located 56 km/35 mi north-northeast of Corpus Christi, on the Mission River. A commercial centre for an oil, cattle, cotton, and grain producing area, it also has some manufactures, and fishing and hunting are important to the economy.

In 1795 the Mission Nuestra Señora del Refugio was located here. The town, settled around 1830, was fought over both during the Texas Revolution and during the Mexican War. The Aransas National Wildlife Refuge, wintering ground of the endangered whooping crane, is 42 km/26 mi to the east, on Aransas Bay.