Portland is located just across the bay from Corpus Christi on US, 181 on a bluff overlooking Nueces Bay in southeastern San Patricio County.
Portland is part of the Corpus Christi, Texas metro area.
During the early years Portland was a rail shipping center for vegetables, and for a short time it had wharf facilities that handled cotton. The irrigation of the Rio Grande valley curtailed the vegetable business, and the hurricanes put an end to dreams of a port. In the 1960s and 1970s Portland grew primarily as a bedroom community for Corpus Christi. In 1988 its population was estimated at 12,000. In 1990 Portland had a population of 12,224 and had grown into Nueces County.