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Bird's Eye View
of Rockport Texas from Courthouse, postmarked 1907
Click on image to enlarge
Old Photo
courtesy Dan
Whatley Collection |
History in
a Seashell
A timeline of important
and significant events.
1865: Development of Rockport began right after the Civil War as a
cattle processing and shipping port.
1867: Col. George Ware Fulton, namesake of Fulton,
Texas, returns from Maryland
1870: Rockport incorporated as a town
1871: the year Aransas
County was demarked from Refugio
County
1880s: boat building and fishing industries develop
1886: The San Antonio and Aransas Pass Railway arrives
1890: The First National Bank of Aransas Pass opens - town gets electric
lights.
1914: Population 1,382
1919: Hurricane nearly obliterates Rockport
1920s: Shrimp industry develops
1935: Harbors built at Rockport and Fulton
WWII: shipyard
established in 1941 built submarine-chasing speedboats.
Present: Fishing, shrimp and tourism remain the town's major economic
factors. |
Rockport, Texas
Landmarks & Attractions
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| The shuttle of
birds back and forth overhead was immediately recognized as herons
mating and building nests. We realized this was an ideal location
to photograph this event. |
Rockport, Texas
Chronicles
Rockport
Ships by Mike Cox
"All but forgotten today, in the early months of World
War II a Rockport shipyard sent two dozen wooden-hulled subchasers
down the ways to face iron-plated German U-Boats in the North Atlantic..."
Aransas
Abattoir by Mike Cox
Rockport used to be a coastal cow town, a place where hooves and
horns drove the local economy, not fishing and tourism...
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"Between
Christmas and New Year, a stiff wind has blown about 1 or 2 feet of
water out of the bay exposing 'new ground'. |
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A
bicycle fence
Photo courtesy Ken
Rudine, November 2005 |
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The
former Shorty Kline's Old Cafe. (Owners; Mr. & Mrs. Gloria and
Herbert R. "Shorty" Kline)
Photo courtesy Ken
Rudine, November 2005 |
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Rockport
in the 1950s
Postcard courtesy rootsweb.com/
~txgenweb// postcards/Index.html |
"Sunsets
are prettier too."
- Ken
Rudine, December 28, 2005 |
| "Deer run
freely every night in a subdivision named Rockport Country Club Estates."
- Ken
Rudine, 2009 |
Photographer
Ken Rudine asks if
anyone has any information on this sign painted on a barbershop in
Rockport. It has been there for at least the last 30 years according
to Ken. If anyone has any information to share on the pictured attraction
or “The Cool Camp” itself, please write to editor@texasescapes.com
with the word "Cool Camp Rockport" in the subject line.
Follow Up to Rockport's Mystery Sign
Our request for information on Ken Rudine's Rockport "ghost sign"
brought a very interesting response from Amanda Barone. Who wrote:
"My husband, who has lived in Rockport since the 70's had friends'
parents that claimed the C's in the Cool Coast Camp were originally
"K's", from the Klu Klux Klan, who apparently operated a camp near
Rockport during the early 1900's. I found a
link that described the brochure. I hope this helps. - Amanda
Barone, Rockport, Texas, January 07, 2015 |
Rockport
area Tourist Information
Rockport-Fulton Area Chamber of Commerce
404 Broadway Rockport, TX 78382
Phone: 361-729-6445
Toll-Free: 800-242-0071
Toll-Free: 800-826-6441
http://www.rockport-fulton.org/
Book Hotel Here > Rockport
Hotels | Fulton
Hotels |
| Texas
Escapes, in its purpose to preserve historic, endangered and vanishing
Texas, asks that anyone wishing to share their local history, stories,
landmarks and recent or vintage photos, please contact
us. |
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