Henry Pomeroy Miller, the "boy mayor'' who played a key role in developing the port and the Intracoastal Waterway.

     He was dressed like a city dude. When he stepped off the train in Corpus Christi on Aug. 25, 1904, Henry Pomeroy Miller wore a new brown suit and derby hat. He was 20 years old, and was already known as an overachiever. He moved into a room at the Constantine Hotel and began a career that would help move Corpus Christi from the country village that it was into the beginning of the city that it is today. Roy Miller was a major figure in that development.
     Miller was born in Blue Rapids, Kan., in 1884. His parents moved to Houston when he was 10. He delivered papers on horseback and graduated from high school at 15, valedictorian of his class. He won a scholarship to college, where he paid his way by waiting on tables and tutoring other pupils. He graduated early and returned to Houston. He took a job as publicity agent for the St. Louis, Brownsville and Mexican Railway. That's when he moved to Corpus Christi.
     Two years after he arrived, Miller married Maud Heaney, daughter of Dr. and Mrs. Alfred Heaney. Within three years, Miller became editor of the Daily Caller; he was 24. In 1913, when he was 29, he was elected mayor for the first of three terms. He began improvements that moved Corpus Christi into the modern era.
     Under Miller's leadership, 12 miles of the city's first paved roads were completed; 26 miles of sewers were laid; a modern water system was installed; street lights were erected; a full-time fire department replaced the volunteer units; and a new city hall and municipal wharf were built.
     People had talked for years about the need to improve the muddy and unsightly bluff, but Miller got it done, convincing the city to back a bond issue. The landscaped balustrade still exists today. He was head of the relief committee after the 1919 storm.
     But Roy Miller's greatest impact was still to come. Corpus Christi gained approval in Congress for a deepwater port largely because of the tandem efforts of Rep. John Nance Garner and the lobbying of Roy Miller. On May 22, 1922, when funding was approved to dredge a ship channel to Corpus Christi, Miller wired home his famous two-word message: "We win!''
     Miller was also a founding member of the Gulf Intracoastal Canal Association. An article in Time magazine in 1958 gave Miller much of the credit for the completion of the waterway, which, the article noted, brought about the greatest boom in Gulf Coast history. Miller was also a key figure in getting the Naval Air Station located at Corpus Christi.
     Roy Miller died in Washington in 1946. His deathbed request was to have Corpus Christi's first fire bell sounded at his funeral. Four years later, Corpus Christi High School was renamed Miller High School in his honor.
     Bill Walraven, historian and author of "Corpus Christi: The History of a Texas Seaport,'' said Roy Miller was the spark that moved Corpus Christi into the modern era. He was a towering figure on the local landscape. More than half a century after his death, his accomplishments still stand.

excerpt from Corpus Christi Caller Times article entitled, "11 individuals who made a difference in Corpus Christi" published on January 2, 2000