Bishop, TX

Bishop sits in Nueces County on U.S. 77 and Farm to Market Road 70, eight miles north of Kingsville and roughly 30 miles southwest of Corpus Christi. The 2020 census counted 3,174 residents. Its twentieth-century story began as a planned agricultural settlement: developer F.Z. Bishop brought in 20 steam plows, laid out square-mile farm tracts, and built water and electric systems before the town's lots went on sale in 1910. Agriculture remains part of the local economy, joined by oil, gas, and chemical production. A Celanese plant opened south of town along Highway 77 in 1945; the Bishop facility now houses Celanese, Ticona, and BASF operations.

School life centers on Bishop Consolidated Independent School District, which operates five campuses: Bishop Primary, Bishop Elementary, Luehrs Junior High, Bishop High School, and Petronila Elementary. The district opened a new high school building in 2010 and shifted the former high school building to junior-high use. U.S. 77 places Bishop on the Canada-to-Mexico corridor, while City Park and Carreta Creek sit within the Central Texas section of the Great Texas Coastal Birding Trail. The town's location connects farm and industrial work with the school and highway systems that organize the Coastal Bend community.