According to the Corpus Christi Public Library site, Old Bayview Cemetery is the oldest cemetery in the area. It was established in 1845 by the U.S. Army Engineers on land provided by a Mr H. Kinney. The need for the cemetery was a tragic explosion of the steamer Dayton in Corpus Christi Bay where 7 soldiers were killed and seventeen were injured, 3 who later died. The site is also the oldest Federal Military Cemetery west of the Mississippi River. Many of the county pioneers are buried at Bayview and the oldest stone found still standing is dated 1850. Many of the gravestones have been broken and/or destroyed.