Rockport Texas - The History, Legends & Lore 1st Printing | Page 93

LORE: The Finish Saloon It ws called the ‘Finish’ because it was open to cattlemen who’d just ‘finished up’ a cattle drive. There’s a famous story connected with this Saloon, when an old and blind Methodist Minister that everyone called Uncle Myers, needed $500 for the Church - he went to the Saloon and took up a collection from the patrons. Another story tells that a parishioner rode into the saloon on his horse and passed his hat around for the money. Downtown Rockport in the early 1900’s Photo: Courtesy of the Aransas County Historical Society LORE: In 1909, the Mayor of Rockport, Albert Bruhl, drives the Town’s first Car: a Cadillac. LORE: In the early days of automobiles, they often treated their cars like they were horses, and exercising cars for the wealthy was once a viable occupation. A picture of Ye Ol’ Rockport at the turn of the Century. Notice the plowed fields, the old Wood Mansion (left), which was lost to fire, and the Old Doughty & Mathis Wharf (right). LORE: An Influenza epidemic hit the Rockport & Fulton area in 1918, and there were a lot of burials that year. Old Postcard of the Aransas County Courthouse with all its Victorian charms. 92 A Rockport Windmill & Water Tower - otherwise, you have to pump water by hand.