Texas Cities

Region: Gulf Coast

Although separate municipalities, towns share heritage, business and recreational areas. Abundant access to saltwater recreational opportunities; on peninsula between Copano Bay and Aransas Bay, sheltered from Gulf of Mexico by St. Joseph Island.

Rockport established 1867 as shipping point for wool, hides, bones and tallow. Became seat of Aransas County in 1871. Tourists, boaters and anglers gather to enjoy the mile-long, award-winning Blue Wave beach.

Fulton 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 area and promoted efforts toward a deep-water pass and railroads in order to market their beef; 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.