| 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. |
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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.
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| 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. |
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Cities
and towns
Aransas Pass
Fulton
Rockport |
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ONLINE
DATA
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Mockingbird
State Bird
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"The
Big Tree"
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