|
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. |
|
|
|
Cities and towns
Aransas Pass
Fulton
Rockport |
|
|
ONLINE DATA |
|
 |
|
Mockingbird
State Bird
|
 |
 |
|
If you have information that you'd
like to share about any town, family, county or subject,
please send it to us and we'll make sure it gets posted to
the right county. We are looking for Census, Births,
Deaths, Marriages, Biographies, Obituaries, and Newspaper
Stories,
Email
me |
|