Local business includes environmentally friendly industries of seafood, oil production, tourism, sport hunting and fishing, boating and water sports, fine art and sculptures, and bird watching. The population is three-fold from local residents, summer vacationers and winter residents. The largest and fastest growing population is retirees relocating to the area; many of whom volunteer their time to over one hundred clubs and organizations in Aransas County.
Available housing ranges from modest to ultra luxurious residences. Local governments are strong and creative, merging tax dollars on selected projects to reduce costs, merging services and bringing relief to taxpayers. Joseph Island. Several attempts were made to establish settlements in the lower Nueces River valley to the south, but because of the threat of Indian attacks and the distance from other Spanish enclaves the plans came to nothing.
Most of the colonists, however, moved inland, and only few settled in the coastal region. The area of Aransas County lay within the border leagues closed to colonization, but the general government of Mexico, on June 11, , gave an empresario grant embracing the region to James Power and James Hewetson , who were to bring in Irish and Mexican settlers.
After Texas independence, the area became part of the newly formed Refugio County. A customhouse, a post office, and several stores were established at the settlement, which by April 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 , , and 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. In Refugio became the county seat, and as a result Aransas City began to decline; by it had ceased to exist.
After the revolution cattlemen and sailors founded another community, Aransas, on the southern end of St. Joseph's Island, which was a prosperous port in antebellum Texas. Despite these developments along the coast, however, the interior of the county was still largely undeveloped. During the s Power and Hewetson had purchased an additional twenty-two leagues of land, which, along with their original grant from the Mexican government, made them the largest landowners east of the Nueces.
But in their title was challenged by Joseph F. Smith and several others, including Stuart Perry, Cyrus W. Egery, James W. Byrne, G. Hull, George Armstrong, and Joseph E. Plummer, who claimed that the Mexican grants in the county were void. The case dragged through the courts until , when Smith and his fellow plaintiffs succeeded in having the original grants overturned.
Litigation continued to the late s, but in the end Power and Hewetson lost all of their titles, and Smith became the major landholder in the area. A short time later James W. Byrne and his associates founded the settlement of St. Joseph on the western end of St. Joseph's Island. The community proved to be short-lived, however. Byrne became associated with Pryor Lea in a plan to develop a railroad from Lamar to Goliad. In the railroad was incorporated by the legislature, and Byrne induced a number of settlers to move to Lamar, which he hoped to turn into an important port city.
The company graded a roadbed across Live Oak Peninsula in , but the threat of the Civil War terminated their plans. In the meantime, Joseph F. Smith had begun to develop another port town, St. The settlement soon became the largest lumber and building-materials center in western Texas. Mary's was an important shipping point for hides, tallow, cattle, and cotton.
By Lamar had two stores and a post office, but St. Mary's had become the more important port. During the Civil War the area that was to become Aransas County was the site of several engagements between Union and Confederate forces. Joseph's Island and destroyed Aransas. By the summer, civilians had deserted the islands. Vessels of the United States Navy under J. Kittredge blockaded the coast, using St.
Joseph's Island as a depot to store captured cotton. On May 3, , Capt. Edwin E. Hobby 's Confederate company attacked the Union garrison there and killed twenty, but in November federal troops under T. Fall Traditions Anchor Here. Port A for the Holidays. Port Aransas, Texas The original island life destination, Port Aransas and Mustang Island are 18 miles of shoreline and wide, sandy beaches—with everything you need to plan the perfect beach vacation.
Life is Sweet in Port Aransas 2 minute read. Dec Holiday Parade Decorate your cart or vehicle for a chance to win prizes in the annual holiday parade.
Feb Nov
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