Rockport Air Force Station
Fulton, Aransas County, Texas
Marker Inscription
On April 22, 1943, the Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) and Aransas County agreed to build an airport for military purpose and public use. A total of 700 acres was purchased and leased to the U.S. Navy until March 9, 1948, when it reverted to the county. In 1955, the county leased part of the property to the U.S. Air Force as a radar facility. The site was especially active during the Cuban Missile Crisis as an aircraft detection and monitoring site when it was necessary to strengthen the American coastal defense. The secure facility included several operations buildings, officers’ barracks, family housing, dining hall and recreational hall with a bowling alley.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
In 1943 wartime need turned 700 acres of Aransas County into a military airfield, leased first to the U.S. Navy and, from 1955, to the Air Force as a coastal radar station. During the tense days of the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis the site scanned the skies for approaching aircraft as part of a strengthened American coastal defense. Behind its fences stood operations buildings, barracks, family housing, and even a recreation hall with a bowling alley.
Why it matters
Stations like this one made the Texas coast a quiet front line of the Cold War, where the nuclear standoff was watched for on radar screens far from Washington.
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