History Center for Aransas County
801 E Cedar St, Rockport, TX 78382 (see map) The History Center for Aransas County showcases local heritage. Outdoor and indoor exhibits tell the stories of the real people of Aransas County. The Center provides space for displays, workshops, meetings and gatherings. The Bruhl-Paul-Johnson house is a Queen Anne-Victorian cottage that was a popular style in the late 1800s. The house has had many owners including A.L. Bruhl, early 1900s pharmacist and Rockport mayor; Simon Paul, surveyor; and Chester Johnson who salvaged and moved the house from Wood and Laurel Streets in 1978 to make way for a bank parking lot. Even by the early 1900s, tourism began to play a significant role in the area’s economy. Local history enthusiasts formed the Friends of the History Center for Aransas County in order to promote this historic venue of Aransas County and have applied for a non-profit 501(c)(3) corporation. History Organizations in Aransas County
Historical Tour Fulton
The History Center has mapped out a walking tour of Historic Downtown Fulton. Click here for Printable map.
Historical Tour Rockport
The History Center has mapped out a walking tour of Historic Downtown Rockport. Click here for Printable map.
Rockport Wharves and Pavilions
Since 1866, wharves and piers have been a part of Rockport’s shores. The first wharf was at Rocky Point, constructed to ship cattle. Other wharves handled commercial shipping and passenger traffic. Sorenson’s Wharf extended into the bay behind the Sorenson & Hooper mercantile and ship’s chandlery store (406 South Austin Street), which was established in 1887. When the San Antonio & Aransas Pass Railroad came to Rockport in July 1888, it constructed a wharf at the end of North Street so that boxcars could be rolled directly to the ships. In the 1890s, the Bailey Pavilion was built on the end of a wharf extending into Aransas Bay in front of the Aransas Hotel (later the Del Mar) and became the social and cultural center of the community. Rockport’s first graduating class (six students) held commencement there on May 17, 1907. The Bailey Pavilion was destroyed in the 1919 hurricane.
The Packeries of Rockport
In 1866, James Doughty, T.H. Mathis, and John M. Mathis constructed cattle pens, with a long wharf that extended out into Aransas Bay from “Rocky Point” (the landmark from which Rockport gets its name). Cattle were shipped to New Orleans on the Morgan line. The hides, hooves, horns, and tallow were shipped East to make fine leather, buttons, glue, candles, and soap. Carcasses were usually discarded. In 1871, an ice plant was added to one of the packeries, which allowed preservation of the meat. As late as 1880, the Rockport packeries handled 93 percent of the Texas-packed beef production. By 1890, most packeries had switched to butchering sea turtles, and Rockport handled almost the entire Gulf production. By the late 1890s, the turtle population had diminished and the industry folded. Remnants of turtle capture pens can still be found along Rockport’s bay shores.
Rockport Harbor
28°01’29.9″N 97°02’51.2″W Navigation Cir, Rockport, TX 78382 (see map) In 1866, James Doughty and Richard H. Wood, searching for a safe harbor location to ship cattle, built pens and a livestock-shipping wharf on “Rocky Point”. Other wharves and pens followed. Soon, a regular schedule of Morgan line shallow-draft steamboats arrived with merchandise and departed with cattle and packery products. In 1888, the railroad ignited a boom in Rockport, prompting local businessmen to begin advertising a strategic harbor near the Gulf. They also pushed to deepen it and create a deep-water port, but the effort ended when Corpus Christi opened its port in 1926. However, abundant harvests of fish, oysters, and shrimp fueled a thriving seafood industry. By 1910, fish houses anchored the southwest side of the Rockport Harbor and numerous fishing boats moored at harbor wharves. By 1940, a new breakwater and a concrete piling and steel seawall created a small-craft safety basin which became Rockport’s famous “fish bowl” harbor.
Rockport’s Seafood Industry
28°01’28.3″N 97°03’01.5″W 198 TX-70 Loop, Rockport, TX (see map) Rockport’s commercial seafood companies have been operating for more than one hundred years. By 1903, David Rockport Scrivner had opened a fish house. In 1907, it sold and became the Jackson Fish Company. A few years later, it sold again and began the Union Fish Company. The 1919 hurricane destroyed the Union Fish building, but it was rebuilt, and, in 1932, the building became a ship’s chandlery. About 1909, the Rockport Fish and Oyster Company was established. In 1919, Ford Jackson bought his brother’s interest in the Jackson Fish Company and changed the name to Jackson Seafood Company. Jackson added shrimp to his harvest, and the local shrimping industry developed rapidly after 1925. By 1935, the Johnson Fish Company was established; shrimp was its main product. After Hurricane Celia in 1970, Jackson Seafood diversified by harvesting sea scallops on the East Coast. Although the company closed in 1991, several other Rockport firms have continued harvesting fish and shrimp.
Rockport Center for the Arts
902 Navigation Circle Rockport, Texas 78382 (see map) In 1969 local artists, including Jan Wendell and Estelle Stair, formed the Rockport Art Association. Members of the association wanted a place to exhibit their work and offer art classes. The beginnings of the building fund came from the first Rockport Art Festival in July 1969. In 1978 Estelle Stair opened her gallery on Austin Street, and the Rockport Art Association found a home. Membership in the Rockport Art Association continued to grow and by 1981 the building fund had reached $80,000, which qualified it for a matching grant. On April 18, 1983 Tom O’Connor notified Art Association President Cam Leonard that the O’Connor family would donate their family home for the art center. The building (also known as the historic Bruhl-O’Connor House) was moved to its current site on Navigation Circle. On May 20, 1984 the Rockport Art Center opened its doors. Now known as The Rockport Center for the Arts, this institution provides exhibit space, art classes for adults and children, and still hosts the Rockport Art Festival in July of each year. This building was rendered unusable by Hurricane Harvey in 2017. Some elements of the Sculpture Garden are still in place.
Texas Maritime Museum
1202 Navigation Cir. Rockport, Texas 78382 (see map) The Texas Maritime Museum has been educating visitors about the rich maritime history of Texas for over 20 years. Texas history from exploration and settlement, to boat-building and shipbuilding, to sports and commercial fishing, and the search for offshore oil and gas is on display. The museum also hosts the annual Rockport Festival of Wine and Food, held every Memorial Day weekend.
Rockport Spirit Columns
The Spirit Columns, by Rockport artist, Jesus Bautista Moroles. Sculpted from Texas Red Granite, March 31, 1998. Plaque reads – To all the dedicated volunteers of Aransas County who constantly improved the quality of our lives, with special thanks for the Parade of Palms, to the Aransas County Clean Team, Jacqueline Covill, Founder.