Rockport, Texas

Rockport shares its heritage, business, and recreational areas with the community of Fulton, although they are separate municipalities. Rockport has abundant access to saltwater recreational opportunities being situated on the peninsula between Copano Bay and Aransas Bay, and sheltered from the Gulf of Mexico by St. Joseph Island.

Rockport was established in 1867 as a shipping point for wool, hides, bones, and tallow. It became the seat of Aransas County in 1871, and today is an important commercial fishing area. Tourists, boaters, and anglers gather to enjoy the mile-long swimming beach.

Fulton was settled in 1866 and named for George Ware Fulton, who built a French Second Empire style house in the mid-1870s in north Rockport. Coleman-Fulton Pasture Co. ranched in the area and promoted the efforts toward a deep-water pass and railroads in order to market their beef. It is now a tourist community.

Rockport-Fulton lies along the Great Texas Coastal Birding Trail, which extends from Brownsville to Orange along the Texas coast. The trail is cosponsored by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Dept. and the Texas Department of Transportation.