The Big Blue Crab
1957
If anyone knows the
lady in the picture,
please email us at:
[email protected]
Photo: Courtesy of the
Aransas County
Historical Society
LEGEND: In 1957, ‘Big
Blue’ crawled out of Aransas
Bay and found employment
at the Del Mar Grill. One
night in 1966, he strolled
over to Navigation Park,
next to the Old HEB’s, and
remained there for 10 years.
And after a small run-in
with local authorities, he
returned to Aransas Bay in
1976. He’s been spotted
several times around Fulton
Harbor.
1957 to 1966
1966 to 1969
It was in the year of 1957, when Dorothy & Sal Silverman had the Big Blue Crab constructed by a company
in Houston to be perched on the roof of their cafe, the
Delmar Grill, which was located on Austin Street. The
Crab was an obvious endorser of “Dorothy’s Famous
Crab Cakes”.
It was Richard Troxell, the owner of Giants, Inc. who
constructed the first Big Blue, and according to his
son: “...it was made having a steel ‘re-bar’ frame,
then covered with ‘sheep fencing’ & ‘chicken wire’
to form the basic shape, then finished with fiberglass
to have it’s final shape and painted with epoxy paint.”
In 1966, the Delmar Grill closed down and the Crab was
purchased for $200 by the Rockport Chamber of Commerce President, Mr. John Ross, and Big Blue was soon
moved to Navigation Park, which is now known as Veteran’s Memorial.
In 1969, a retired painter, by the name of Ed Wagner,
voluntered to paint the Crab. The painter may not have
known any better, but red claws are distinctiv R