[1] Padre Island had been granted in 1759 to his Spanish colonist grandfather, Nicolás Ballí, by King Charles III of Spain.

The younger Ballí's parents were both Spanish immigrants to Mexico and owned vast amounts of land by royal grants.

José Nicolás Ballí served as a secular priest and missionary; he also managed large amounts of land where he ran a ranching operation.

In 1804 he founded the first ethnic Mexican settlement on the island as the town of "El Rancho Santa Cruz de Buena Vista" (later known as Lost City).

[1] His mother Rosa María Hinojosa de Ballí had made a joint application with him for eleven leagues of the island, but when reapplication was required in 1800, she withdrew her name in favor of him.

[1] During World War II, United States scientists considered Padre Island as one of eight candidate sites for the first test of an atomic bomb but chose White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico for the detonation, instead.

Padre Island began forming as a submerged sand bar some 4500 years ago, as shown by radiocarbon dating of shells.

South Padre Island has been in a destructive phase for a long time, probably having retreated landward (along with the lagoon and mainland shoreline).

All of Padre Island will probably retreat landward through long-term erosion due to three causes: interruption and decrease in sediment supply, relative sea level rise, and tropical storm activity.

The turtles are endangered due to getting caught in shrimpers' nets; they are widely hunted in Mexico as popular sources of boot material and food.