Fulton
Fulton, Aransas County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Located on Aransas Bay, the city of Fulton has a history closely associated with the fishing and shipping industry. The town was founded in 1867 by George Ware Fulton, whose mansion is an important local landmark. Schools, churches, and businesses were quickly established in the town. A one-room schoolhouse, built in 1886, was relocated and adapted for use as a city hall. In recent years tourism and commercial fishing and shrimping have become the city's most important economic pursuits. The city of Fulton was incorporated in 1978. (1988)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Founded in 1867 by George Ware Fulton on the shore of Aransas Bay, the town of Fulton grew up around fishing and shipping, with schools, churches, and businesses following quickly. A one-room schoolhouse of 1886 was later repurposed as city hall, and in modern times tourism and commercial fishing and shrimping have carried the local economy. Fulton formally incorporated in 1978.
Why it matters
Gulf Coast towns like Fulton show how the sea itself — its fish, shrimp, and shipping — built and sustained American communities.
Own a business near here? Add it to the map.
Related people
- · George Ware Fulton
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Rockport
Rockport, TX
Cattlemen J. M. and T. H. Mathis founded Rockport on the Gulf coast in 1867, and by 1871 it was the seat of newly formed Aransas County. Shipping and fishing drove its early economy until the railroad arrived in 1888 and drew commerce inland, though its shipyards revived to build vessels through both World Wars. In the decades since, the town's mild coast and abundant fishing have made tourism its enduring livelihood.
Bracht House
Rockport, TX
Rockport native Adolph L. Bracht opened his own wholesale and retail grocery in 1899 and spent decades shipping vegetables from local growers and the Rio Grande Valley to wider markets. A charter member of the Intracoastal Canal Association, he was active in his church and chamber of commerce until retiring in 1947. He and his wife Gertrude raised nine children in their Prairie-style house, built around the turn of the century with a wraparound porch and Doric columns.
Jackson Family Maritime Companies
Fulton, TX
In 1906 Roy Jackson opened the Jackson Fish Company on the Rockport waterfront, and with his brother Stephen built a fishing and oyster business that expanded into docks and channels as motorized boats came into use. Renamed Jackson Marine Services, the family enterprise reached across American coasts and, at its peak, employed more than 100 families while supplying repairs, ice, and a market to local fishers. Rising fuel costs and foreign competition led the Jacksons to sell their property and boats in 1990-91, closing an 85-year chapter.
Richard Henry Wood House
Rockport, TX
Born in 1846, Richard Henry Wood was among Rockport's earliest settlers, and in 1866 he and partner James Doughty built the harbor's first cattle pens, warehouse, and wharf, infrastructure that made the town a shipping point for Texas cattle. He served as alderman and later mayor, helped initiate the Texas Game and Fish Commission in 1907, and lived in an 1868 Greek Revival home until his death in 1923. The great 1919 hurricane destroyed much of what he had built.