Early history The
Karankawa Indians were living a
nomadic existence in the region when
Spaniards, led by
Alonso Álvarez de Pineda, probed the coast in 1519. Governor
Francisco de Garay of
Jamaica had commissioned him to explore the Gulf Coast from
Florida to
Vera Cruz. In the summer of 1519, Piñeda, took a fleet of four ships east to west around the Gulf Coast exploring and mapping five passes along the Texas coastline, including what is known today as
Aransas Pass. In 1720, French explorer
Pierre-Jean de Béranger was commissioned to explore St. Bernard Bay "
Matagorda Bay" to establish a
colony for
France along its shores. Jean took an old Spanish ship that had been captured in Florida during the war with Spain, christened it
St. Joseph, and his travels resulted in the rediscovery of the Aransas Pass. In 1739, Governor
Prudencio de Orobio y Basterra named the pass Aránzazu Pass on his map of 1739, because it served the Aránzazu fort. The name was altered to Aransas on the map of a Captain Monroe of the ship
Amos Wright in 1833.
Pirates of Port Aransas Port Aransas was a location of
pirates in the early 19th century. From about 1800 to the early 1820s, the Gulf Coast was a haunt of pirate ships searching for riches. Capt.
Jean Lafitte and his
buccaneers spent time on the Texas coast;
Galveston owed its start to him, and Mustang Island was one of his favorite haunts. Capt. Jean Lafitte used Mustang Island as a place to make camp, and according to legend, a place to hide his treasure. Local lore tells of pirate treasure buried in Port Aransas. The
treasure chest is supposedly marked by a Spanish silver
dagger. The dagger is believed to be laid on its side with a silver spike driven through the hilt, securing the location.
European settlement The first recorded permanent settler in Port Aransas was Capt. Robert Ainsworth Mercer of
Lancaster,
England. He established a sheep and cattle ranch known as El Mar Rancho in 1853 or 1855. Herds of wild
mustangs rambled over plush rangelands of the island when Mercer first settled there. By 1854, the
Texas Senate sanctioned a seven-mile (11 km) channel from Corpus Christi to the Aransas Pass bar to better serve the Port of Corpus Christi. Also in the 1850s, a regular steamship service route for cargo and passengers was established between New Orleans and Mustang Island. As the pass was brought into permanence, local
pilots were needed to guide the ships safely across the bar. For this, permanent structures were required to house the pilots, including docks, a lighthouse, storage, jetties, and a general store.
Life Saving Station and the Lighthouse In 1850, the
United States Life-Saving Service built the 8th District
United States Life Saving Station in Port Aransas. The station was built for the aid and rescue of shipwrecked mariners and was staffed by full-time crews. The Life Saving Station was administered by the
United States Revenue Marine (later renamed the
United States Revenue Cutter Service) and was run with a volunteer crew, much like a
volunteer fire department. About of land were bought from the State of Texas for $750.00 by the federal government and the Life Saving Station was built on the same site that the
United States Coast Guard station stands on today. The Life Saving Station included a dock that stretched from the boathouse into the channel. The boats were hauled onto rails, and pushed into the boathouse when not in use. The small fleet of boats included a skiff, a surf boat, a whale boat, and a whale boat for rough
surf. Designated keeper in charge of the 8th District Life Saving Station on Mustang Island was John G. Mercer. Mercer was also one of the local bar pilots, and was appointed sometime in September 1880. After the announcement of a regular
steamship service route between New Orleans and Port Aransas, the
United States Congress commissioned $12,500 for the construction of the
Aransas Pass Lighthouse. Haggling over the lighthouse's specifications mired down the process and another survey was done. Meanwhile, the pass slowly moved south, as currents deposited sand on its north bank at the south end of Saint Joseph Island. It was then advised that a lightship be used to mark the pass. More surveying was done, more talk ensued, and then a proposition was accepted to erect a screw-pile lighthouse of brick. In December 1855, the ship transporting the bricks struck, and then stuck, on the bar. The crewmates were all rescued, but the ship and its cargo went to the bottom of the sea. New bricks arrived in 1856, soon followed by the lantern room that would be set on top, and lastly a fourth order
Fresnel lens. Also, a lighthouse keeper's dwelling, a small storage room, and docks were needed. The construction was complete by mid-1857 and the light guided ships through the pass later that year. The
Lydia Ann Channel Lighthouse was deactivated in 1952 after a major channel shift left the station a mile from the channel entrance. To better mark Aransas Pass, a new light was established in 1952 at the Port Aransas
Coast Guard Station, and the Aransas Pass Lighthouse was deactivated, just a few years shy of a century of service.
The Civil War Around the start of the
American Civil War, the lens was taken out of the lantern room of the lighthouse and hidden in the
marshlands behind the structure. This lighthouse was of utmost importance because it controlled the night-time pass. Whoever governed the light beacon regulated the night-time passageway. Without that light, the Union ships could only traverse the treacherous pass in the daytime, limiting Union ship movement in the blockade of the coastline. The harbors in the
Corpus Christi,
Rockport-St. Marys,
Copano Bay area and Mustang and
San Jose Islands were all supplying the
Confederate Army with beef, salt, seafood, and cotton supplies for the troops fighting the North, and
the Union was bent on stopping those shipments. Around November 1861, as expected, the Union Navy started a campaign of coastal
blockade. Then,
Marines off the Navy vessel
USS Afton surged ashore on San Jose Island and leveled the small town of Aransas, burning most of the houses, structures, warehouses, piers, docks, and wharf sometime in February 1862. The small town was all but wiped out, but remnants of it can still be found today. Jurisdiction of the lighthouse traded back and forth between the Confederate and Union detachments throughout the war. Though Lt.
J. W. Kittredge attempted the expropriation of Corpus Christi from the Southern forces, Maj. Alfred M. Hobby and troops sent the Union ships sailing away. By early that summer, Southern civilians had forsaken the islands rather than be under the rule of the North.
United States Navy vessels under J. W. Kittredge (before he was captured) besieged the coast, using St. Joseph's Island and the few remaining structures on it as a depot to store captured cotton. On Christmas Day of 1862, a move was made by Confederate General
John B. Magruder, who authorized a detachment of troops to commence the ruination of the lighthouse tower.
Gunpowder kegs were clustered inside the tower and lit, resulting in the damaging of 20–25 feet of brickwork, the glass housing case, and the round stairwell. The next significant stage in the war for this arena was on May 3, 1863, when Capt.
Edwin E. Hobby's Confederate company assaulted the Union garrison set to protect the lighthouse and killed 20 soldiers. On May 8, the Confederates once again maintained a battery on Mustang Island; later in the month, they pushed Union forces off St. Joseph's Island. But their victory would not be long lived as the Union comprehended the significance of the pass, and in November, federal troops under
T. C. G. Robinson came back and regained control of the island.
The Tarpon Inn is on the
National Register of Historic Places listings in Nueces County, Texas. The
Tarpon Inn was built in 1886 with surplus lumber from Civil War barracks. It was built to house workers building the south jetty (known then as the Mansfield Jetty). In 1886, when the jetty was finished, the structure was converted into a hotel and called the Tarpon Inn. It was opened by Frank Stephenson and sold to Mary Hatfield and her son, Ed Cotter in 1897. After the
1919 hurricane destroyed the main structure, the inn was sold again in 1923 to James M. Ellis, who rebuilt the inn to resemble the old barracks. When the Tarpon Inn was rebuilt in 1923, many of the new pilings were placed in concrete, with the ends extending up through the entire structure and into the attic. Because the Tarpon Inn was built with impressive reinforcements and a protected shelter, it has housed many residents during storms and has served as headquarters for the
Red Cross, the
Salvation Army, and military units. Two of the walls of the Tarpon Inn are covered with
tarpon scales. Each of the scales has the signature and hometown of the angler who caught the tarpon and the length, weight, and date of the catch. Some of the people who have stayed at the Tarpon Inn include: President
Franklin D. Roosevelt, who fished there in 1937;
Duncan Hines, who spent his
honeymoon there;
Hedy Lamarr;
Victor McLaglen;
Aimee Semple McPherson;
Clyde Beatty;
Bob Lilly; and physicist
Edward Teller. In 1979, the Tarpon Inn was listed on the
National Register of Historic Places and was recognized as a Texas Historic Landmark. In 1941,
The University of Texas Marine Science Institute was formed with Dr. Lund as the first director. Research began in the old pier building with one of the first projects being on the distribution, life history, and abundance of marine fishes of Texas, by Dr. Lund and
Dr. Gordon Gunter, who was Lund's student and later followed Lund as director. Gunter also undertook a study for the U.S. Navy on the problem of fouling on ships' bottoms. With the end of the war, development of the institute resumed. Lund purchased and donated . The old
Army Corps of Engineers building, constructed in 1890 and veteran of several hurricanes, was included. This building is still there today and serves as a
dormitory where students relax on an old-fashioned porch and watch ships and dolphins almost at the doorstep on the Aransas Pass. In 1946, the first permanent marine laboratory was established in Port Aransas, Texas. Two frame buildings were constructed, which still serve as the cafeteria and a dormitory, and a full-time staff was in residence. A laboratory was built on the pier in 1948 and major expansion of physical facilities took place in the 1970s with the acquisition of of land, additional laboratories, dormitory, apartments, maintenance complex, and a -acre boat basin.
Port Aransas during World War II During World War II, an artillery
gun turret was erected by the
United States Army and maintained throughout the war, on a high dune just off Cotter St. across from the UT campus, and is now part of the UT properties. It was placed to protect the pass from sightings of German U-boats.
Blackouts were called on all the island during nighttime hours, no fires on the beach or car lights, and house windows could not show light and had to be covered with heavy curtains, blankets, or wood.
The Farley Boat and Port Aransas In the early 20th century, tarpon fishing began to attract anglers and tourists from across America to Port Aransas. Because of the choppy waters around Port Aransas, though, access to the Gulf Coast was restricted. The boats of the day were not designed to handle the rough Gulf Coast waters and storms in the early 20th century wiped out the existing charter fleet. To meet the needs of anglers coming from across the country to fish for tarpon, the Farley family began building the
Farley boat. In 1915, Charles Frederick ("Fred") Farley and his son established
Farley and Son, Boat Builders, in Port Aransas. The Farley boats were designed to meet the needs of anglers and fishing guides. They were designed with low sides and a high bow to fight the choppy waves. The Farley boats were also designed with low cabins that allowed fishing in every direction. In 1937, President Franklin D. Roosevelt visited Port Aransas and while Congress was debating his
Judiciary Reorganization Bill of 1937, he fished for tarpon. He hired
Barney Farley, the famous fishing guide and brother of Fred Farley. The president brought his own fishing boat and Barney Farley agreed to take the president out on the boat. After an unsuccessful outing, Barney Farley convinced the president to fish from a Farley boat, but his nephew, Don Farley, would take him. Though he had a successful outing, Don said, "I can't believe he caught so many because of the secret service running around on boats in the water." The president caught so many tarpon that he returned to Port Aransas later that year to again fish with Barney Farley on a Farley boat. Today, Farley boat planters are located all over the city of Port Aransas, celebrating the history and importance of the Farley boat along the Gulf Coast.
Hurricane Harvey Port Aransas suffered major damage as a result of the landfall of
Hurricane Harvey in August 2017, with wind speeds of 132 mph (212 km/h, 59 m/s) being recorded.
Modern day Port Aransas has now become a fishing, beach, and resort village, with summer populations sometimes swelling to 60,000 or more, as well as a college spring-break destination. Every year in April, Port Aransas hosts an event called Sand Fest, which brings thousands of people to Port Aransas to watch sculptors build elaborate sand castles. The event has food vendors, shopping, and live music. All of the money raised from the event goes to the community and local schools. ==Geography==