Long before European settlers arrived, the area that became Calallen was part of the traditional territory of the Karankawa peoples, a nomatic Indigenous group along the Texas Gulf Coast. According to the
Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, the
Karankawa inhabited coastal zones from what is now
Corpus Christi Bay inland, living by hunting and fishing and gathering. Their presence shaped the earliest cultural landscape of the region. By late nineteenth century, the land along the
Nueces River was home to rancher Calvin Joseph “Cal” Allen (18591922). The
New Encyclopedia of Texas (1929) described Allen as "one of the most beloved characters of the old Southwest." Allen's first land purchase was from Alice Magee and consisted of 1,117 acres for $4,000. Upon his death, the
Corpus Christi Caller called him "one of the most highly honored and prominent ranchmen of the Southwest". Allen eventually managed a 5,000-acre ranch where he raised wild cattle and later improved his herds with fine-blooded stock, becoming a notable figure in the early
South Texas ranching. In 1900 the
St. Louis, Brownsville and Mexico Railway, which was building southward to the Rio Grande Valley, decided to bypass the pioneer community of Nuecestown and run its tracks a few miles away. Allen donated right-of-way to the railroad; in return, the railroad built a water stop and depot on Allen’s property. Allen then divided some of his ranch land along the nearby Nueces River into lots and put it on the market. Soon a community formed along the railroad. The railroad initially named the stop Calvin. However, when it was discovered that another town in Texas had secured that name, residents settled on Calallen, combining Allen’s nickname and surname. The community received a post office in 1908 with Ira D. Magee as the first postmaster. Meanwhile, Nuecestown slowly dissipated. The main part of Calallen grew around the west side of the railroad tracks, and included a bank, lumber yard, pharmacy, funeral home, meat market and numerous general mercantile stores. Two passenger trains stopped at Calallen each day in addition to regular freight traffic. In 1914 the town had 150 residents and nine businesses. Its population fell to twenty-five by 1925 but reached 100 in 1939. Calallen had Baptist, Catholic and Methodist churches and a large two-story hotel on its main street. Its top employer was the Corpus Christi Water Plant, one of the first large non-agricultural employers in the area. Calallen Dam was the first dam build by Corpus Christi in the late 1800s. The dams original purpose was to divert saltwater, but now it holds the Calallen Pool, one of Corpus Christi's main freshwater sources. Others businesses continued to move into the town and its peripheral area. Among these were the C. E. Coleman vegetable packing sheds, which sat along the railroad tracks, the Calallen Gin, and the Ault Apiary, where bees were raised. Familiar names in the community included Allen, Atkinson, Ault, Bickham, Harney, Hearn, Hunter, Magee, McKinzie and Noakes. After
World War II, Calallen's role in local industry diminished. The post office was discontinued sometime after 1960. Calallen was never legally incorporated, and by 1966 it was annexed by the City of Corpus Christi. Although Calallen was no longer its own city, the impact it made on agriculture and the growth it added to Corpus Christi was vital. The original community name survives in the
Calallen Independent School District, Calallen Dam and numerous businesses. ==Transportation==