ROCKPORT

The county seat of Aransas County, Rockport is a colorful coastal town with a booming tourism industry. Located on the Live Oak Peninsula north of Corpus Christi, Rockport boasts access to both Aransas Bay and Copano Bay. The barrier reef of San Jose Island shelters it from the Gulf of Mexico. Due to it’s peninsular location, residents enjoy an island vibe without having to take ferries or bridges to the mainland. The nearby town of Fulton is sometimes included in the community name “Rockport Fulton”. While technically it’s own municipality, Fulton has grown together with Rockport, offering residents even more amenities and housing opportunities. The daily population of Rockport includes year round residents, tourists and “winter Texans”, as well as a large population of brown pelicans. A number of artists call this quirky community home, and residents can enjoy numerous public art installations as well as the Rockport Center for the Arts. Rockport has been named to several award lists, including being listed as #4 on Gulfscape Magazine’s “2011 Readers Choice Best Gulf Coast Towns,” a “Coastal Dream Town” by Coastal Living Magazine, the “long weekend hot spot for bird watching” by Better Homes and Gardens Magazine, a “great Gulf Coast Getaway for business meetings” by Texas Meetings and Events, and one of the “Best Places to Live and Visit” by Today in America TV show.

Amenities Near Rockport

Rockport Beach Park, located on Seabreeze Drive, is touted as Texas’ first blue wave beach and offers a host of recreational activities. Home to the “Big Blue Crab” art installation, the beach affords visitors with stellar views, picnic and playground sites, covered pavillions, pier fishing, saltwater pool, boat dock, and a host of year round activities and festivals. Boating is a popular past time, and there are several marinas in town to accommodate recreational boats of any size. Art lovers can enjoy the Rockport Center for the Arts, with galleries featuring local as well as national and international artists and a beautiful 10,000 sf sculpture garden. The Center also hosts the annual “Rockport Film Festival”. Rockport’s Main Street is a great place to spend an afternoon, crowded with art galleries, shops and restaurants. Live Oaks are prevalent on the aptly named Live Oak Peninsula, and nearby Goose Island, 12 miles north of Rockport, is home to Texas’ oldest living live oak - at 2000 year old and more than 30 feet around, it is truly an impressive sight. The Aransas National Wildlife Refuge, a scenic coastal 1 hour drive from Rockport, is known for it’s winter population of whooping cranes as well as a large migration of hummingbirds. Visitors can also enjoy sighting over 320 other species of birds as well as alligators, javelina and deer. Located on Hwy 35, Rockport enjoys easy access to Corpus Christi and other major Texas cities such as San Antonio and Austin. Rockport is served by the Aransas County Independent School District.