LORE: On the night of December 21,
1870, Mayor John Mathis held a town
meeting, and together, with his four
Aldermen (one of which was Viktor
Bracht), they published the first three
Town Ordinances. 1) Shooting a gun
or pistol inside the Town’s city limits
(other than for safety or defence) - $5 to
$20 Fine. 2) Running a horse or mule
on a public road inside the city limits
- $5 to $20 Fine. 3) Drunken and disorderly conduct - no more than a $20
Fine.
Mathis House - The Home of John M.
Mathis (The first Mayor of Rockport.) Constructed between 1868 & 1869 with
details of Classical & Greek Revival.
And so Rockport was established. Cattle were herded to
Rockport, placed in pens at our local Slaughterhouse & Packery, where they were butchered for their hide & tallow and
that was shipped out by sea. In 1871, an Ice Plant was built,
which helped our beef industry and the community. From
the Wharf at Rocky Point, live cattle would also be Steam
Shipped to New Orleans.
U.S. $20 Dollar Gold
‘Liberty Head’
(1849–1907)
George Fulton wanted a Railroad in
Rockport to advance his cattle market further north, so he got one. The ColemanFulton Pasture Company ceded lands for
the track, and in July of 1888, the San Antonio & Aransas Pass (SA&AP) Railroad
delivered its first passengers from San
Antonio to Rockport, and the population
of Rockport quadrupled over the next 10
years.
LORE: In 1888, the SA&AP Railroad named its new Engine: George W.
Fulton, Jr. - after George Fulton’s son.
This picture shows the ‘Sister Engine’:
Engine #109.
LORE: When the very first passengers
from San Antonio arrived in Rockport,
the Fulton Family invited them all to
their home, (the Fulton Mansion) and
treated them to a large banquet.
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