The old Queen Isabella Causeway is gone. Demolition wrapped up last week, nearly 70 years after the bridge was built.

The Texas General Land Office started tearing down the old structure in July 2025. All that remains now is a small stack of rubble along the bay between South Padre Island and Port Isabel.

The nonprofit Friends of the RGV Reef plans to use that concrete to build an artificial reef offshore near South Padre Island. Nearly all the material from the original bridge has already been moved out there.

The old causeway was the first link to South Padre Island. Port Isabel and Cameron County wanted to build it in the late 1920s. The project started in the 1930s but got put on hold.

"In the late 40s, a guy named John Hopkins from Corpus Christi bought up parts of the island, and one of the things that he wanted to get built was the causeway, but the Korean War started," South Padre Island Museum Historian Steve Hathcock said. “[Materials were] hard to come by, but he was able to finally make it work.”

The old Queen Isabella Causeway finally opened in 1952. Hathcock said it created new opportunities for the Valley.

"It opened for tourism, locals, and people in the Valley, especially people who have been coming to the island for years and using the ferry boats. It connected to the rest of the world," Hathcock said.

The old causeway deteriorated after the rebar inside rusted. A new causeway was built in the 1970s, and the old one closed.

For years it sat in the water as a fishing spot. Douglas Dunkin, a fisherman from Harlingen, remembers spending time near the old causeway as a kid.

"I can remember my grandmother bringing me over the old one. They shut that down, but of course, you fish under it. It was the only structure in the bay that you could fish around, and it held a lot of fish," Dunkin said.

Dunkin said he sees the demolition as a step forward.

"It is progress; I don't think people should be upset about it. I think they should look forward to the next chapter in the island's history," Dunkin said.

The entire 25-acre property where the old causeway once stood belongs to Charles Nelson. He bought the property in 2021 and has been waiting for the project to move forward so he can repurpose the area.

"I want to [build] luxury housing condos and apartments and things of that nature. Possibly an electric RV-type setup, and I can see a marina in the near future," Nelson said.

Nelson also plans to use the area as a viewing site for SpaceX launches.

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