Military
Rockport Air Force Station
On April 22, 1943, the Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) and Aransas County agreed to build an airport for military purpose and public use. A total of 700 acres was purchased and leased to the U.S. Navy until March 9, 1948, when it reverted to the county. In 1955, the county leased part of the property to the U.S. Air Force as a radar facility.
History
Rockport Cemetery
This cemetery has served the citizens of Rockport and Fulton for over a century. The oldest marked grave is that of Emma Fulton (d. 1876), granddaughter of George Ware Fulton, who was instrumental in the development of the area and was interred in the cemetery in 1893. A large number of burials took place here in 1918, the year of a devastating influenza epidemic.
Industry & Science
Rockport Marine Laboratory
In 1935, Rockport Marine Lab was set up aboard the houseboat "Vivian" in Rockport Harbor to assist the Texas Game, Fish and Oyster Commission with fisheries management. In 1947, a permanent lab was built on the harbor, a state of the art facility including a public aquarium. When the commission merged into the Texas Parks and Wildlife Dept.
History
Rockport Pilot, The
The earliest newspaper in this area was "The Vaquero," published by Charles F. Bailey and Geraldo A. Beeman in St. Mary's in 1868. In 1869 Bailey moved to Rockport and founded "The Transcript," which continued in operation until 1886. Two years later "The Rockport Enterprise" began, and in 1916 it merged with the new "Rockport Pilot.
History
Rockport School
Rockport School has served the town of Rockport for many years as both an educational and community institution. It dates to 1935, during the era of the Great Depression. One of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal programs to combat the Depression was the Federal Emergency Administration of Public Works, later the Public Works Administration (PWA), part of the National Industrial Recovery…
History
Rockport Volunteer Fire Department
As Rockport grew as a center of commerce and a tourism destination in the 1880s, businessman Sam Smith, who owned several homes and businesses, donated the city's first firefighting equipment. The unit cost about $1400 and consisted of a horse-drawn wagon with chemical tanks. With W. S.
History
San Antonio and Aransas Pass Railroad in Rockport, The
During its early years Rockport relied on Gulf shipping for goods and services. After the arrival of the San Antonio and Aransas Pass Railroad in 1888, however, the town's economic focus changed to include rail shipping and a burgeoning tourism industry. The town's population grew from 600 in 1888 to 2,500 by 1890.
History
Site of Aransas Hotel
Built in 1889 by civic leader and politician John H. Traylor, the Aransas Hotel covered this city block. The three-story structure, a major tourist attraction in Rockport, had about 100 rooms and a massive open dining room with a 200 person capacity. Guests were entertained by orchestras, plays, a mounted bird display, and beach facilities.
History
Site of Heldenfels Shipyard
Shipping industries flourished on the Rockport waterfront by the 1880s. Heldenfels Shipyard was established here on 12.9 acres in October 1917. Four 281-foot wooden cargo vessels were to be built for military use in World War I; the "Baychester" was launched on July 31, 1919, and the "Zuniga" on September 9, 1919. At the height of construction, over 900 men were employed at the shipyard.
History
Site of Marion Packing Co.
The ruins of this rendering vat mark the location of the Marion Packing Co. (spelled "Meriam" in some records), one of the dozen or more meat packing plants built in the Rockport-Fulton area in the 1860s and 1870s to process the huge herds of range cattle that roamed Texas after the Civil War. Here beef was dried, salted, or pickled before shipping.
History
Site of One of the Homes of James Power
Site of One of the Homes of James Power Born in Ireland, 1789 Died in Live Oak Point, Texas, 1852 With James Hewetson he was granted authority January 11, 1828 to settle 200 families in Texas Served Texas under three flags as empresario, soldier, statesman Signed the Texas Declaration of Independence Ever a loyal son of his adopted country Honored and loved by his people Erected by the State of…
Architecture
Sorenson-Stair Building
Simon Sorenson, a native of Denmark, bought Brunner's Merchantile at this site in 1886. The building was originally two stories, rebuilt after an 1895 fire. The Sorensons received weather reports by telegraph, posted updates in the display windows and raised warning flags as necessary. Hurricane Celia damaged the building and stock in 1970.
History
Stella Maris Chapel
Irish immigrant James W. Byrne (1787-1865), a veteran of the Texas Revolution, was an early settler of this area. He established the town of Lamar and, with his wife Harriet, sold land on Aransas Bay to the Catholic church for a chapel site. Byrne engaged a French architect to design the structure, which was completed in 1858.
Architecture
Woman's Club of Aransas County Building
In March 1948, Mrs. Fred B. Hunt issued a call to organize the Woman's Civic Club. One of the club's major early activities was financing a permanent building for the organization. Later that year the recreation building for Humble Oil Company employees at Ingleside went up for auction, and the club put in a bid that was accepted.
Elsewhere in Texas
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