Camp Hulen & the WWII Texas Coast

Palacios is a quiet town on the shallow bays of the Matagorda coast, the kind of place where shrimp boats outnumber stoplights — but for a stretch of years in the 1940s it was one of the busiest antiaircraft-training centers in the country. The flat, open water offered a safe firing range, and tens of thousands of soldiers from across the nation cycled through a sprawling tent city on the edge of town, learning to spot enemy planes and work the guns that would defend Allied skies. This driving tour connects the site of that vanished camp with the waterfront and landmarks the soldiers knew on their days off. It's a story of how a small Texas town briefly held a piece of a global war. Bring water, watch for the bay breeze, and take your time along the seawall.