Welcome to Aransas County, Texas

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Aransas County Texas

After Texas independence, the area became part of the newly formed Refugio County. Around 1832 James Power founded Aransas City on Live Oak Point near the site of the Aránzazu fort. A customhouse, a post office, and several stores were established at the settlement, which by April 1840 served as the de facto seat of government for Refugio County. Until the establishment of Corpus Christi, Aransas City was the westernmost port in Texas; its estimated population was several hundred. The town was raided by Comanche and Karankawa Indians on several occasions, and at least three times by Mexican bandits, in 1838, 1839, and 1841.

At about the same time three local figures, Capt. James W. Byrne, George R. Hull, and George Armstrong, were developing another townsite, Lamar, across the pass on Lookout Point. After Mirabeau B. Lamar became president of Texas, he ordered the customhouse moved to the new town.

During the Civil War the area that was to become Aransas County was the site of several engagements between Union and Confederate forces. In February 1862 marines from the USS Afton went ashore on St. Joseph's Island and destroyed Aransas. By the summer, civilians had deserted the islands. Vessels of the United States Navy under J. W. Kittredge blockaded the coast, using St. Joseph's Island as a depot to store captured cotton. On May 3, 1863, Capt. Edwin E. Hobby's Confederate company attacked the Union garrison there and killed twenty, but in November 1863 federal troops under T. C. G. Robinson succeeded in regaining control of the island. St. Mary's, which had been a prime focus for blockade runners, was attacked, and its wharves and warehouses were destroyed. Many of the town's leading citizens moved elsewhere, including Joseph F. Smith, who moved to Tuxpan, Vera Cruz, where he purchased a plantation and lived until his death.

Photo by Larry D. Moore CC BY-SA 3.0
ARANSAS COUNTY COURTHOUSE

 CITIES, TOWNS,  AND POPULATED PLACES

*Aransas Pass  *  Fulton  *  Rockport (county seat) * Holiday Beach * Lamar *

* Aransas City (Ghost Town)  *

 
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Website Updates:
Nov 2024: Calamity News: DONNELL; Community News: CARVER; Death News: BROWN, EAVES, TAYLOR
Jul 2024: Ads: BUROWS; Birth News: PYRON; Calamity News: WHITEHEAD, SULLIVAN, MOORE; Cemeteries: Burials in Rockport Cemetery: ABRAHAMS, ABT, AUNA, ADAME, ADAMSON, ADOLPHUS, AGUILAR, AKIN, AIKMAN, ALANIZ, ALBIN, ALEMAN, ALISTER, ALLEMANG, ALLEN, ALLGOOD
Mar 2024: Death News: YOUNG; Birth News: FRANDOLIG; Marriage News: SORENSON, HERRING, HOOPES, HORSFORD, GIBSON, BRUHL, SORRENSON, FANCHER, DEAN, CLEVELAND, SCRIVNER, STERNS
Nov 2023: Death News: GANDY, CAMAK, WILSON, HOFFMAN
Aug 2023: Biographies: SKIDMORE
Jul 2023: Marriage News: TERRILL, TERRY; Death News: RICKFORD, JONES
Apr 2023: Death News: MATTHIAS
Mar 2023: Sick List News: MOORE; Visiting News: PICTON, JOHNSON; Birth News: HUCKMAN, GENTRY
Dec 2022: Biographies: WELLS, SHELDON, JOHNSON
Nov 2022: Death News: SWIFT, VINEYARD; Crime News; Ads: City Hotel, SKIDMORE
Jul 2022: Community News: WALTON, ALLYN, WEBB; Biographies: HUNTER, JOHNSON, MCCAMPBELL
Apr 2022: Marriage News: DIETRICH, CASTELINE; Visiting News: DIETRICH
Feb 2022: Weather News; Community News: Coleman Hilton Pasture Co

 

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