St. Mary's of Aransas, Texas facts for kids

St. Mary's of Aransas is a ghost town located near the town of Bayside in Refugio County, Texas, United States. A ghost town is a place where most people have left, leaving behind empty buildings. St. Mary's of Aransas was once a busy settlement and a very important port. It was a key trading spot until Rockport grew bigger in the late 1800s.

The Story of St. Mary's of Aransas

St. Mary's of Aransas was started around 1850. A developer named Joseph F. Smith founded the town. It was located near the port of Copano. The town quickly became a major port. It was a main center for lumber and building materials on the Texas coast.

A Busy Port Town

Many different goods were shipped from St. Mary's. These included animal hides, animal fat (tallow), cattle, and cotton. These goods were then moved by wagons to other Texas cities. Some of these cities were Refugio, Goliad, Beeville, and San Antonio.

Challenges and Decline

During the American Civil War, the port was used by ships called blockade runners. These ships tried to get past naval blockades. Because of this, federal troops attacked the town. They burned a warehouse and two wharves (docks). Some important citizens, like Joseph F. Smith, left the town during the war.

After the war, a shipping company called Morgan Lines started stopping at the port. However, a strong hurricane hit in 1875. This storm, along with wreckage in Copano Bay, made it hard for ships to reach the town. The Morgan Lines stopped coming to St. Mary's.

In 1869, St. Mary's was named the county seat of Refugio County. This meant it was the main town for the county's government. But it lost this title to the growing port of Rockport in 1871.

The End of an Era

In the 1880s, a new railroad was built. The San Antonio and Aransas Pass Railway went to Rockport instead of St. Mary's. This hurt St. Mary's even more. Another hurricane in 1886 destroyed the schoolhouse and the wharves. The town continued to decline after another storm the next year. By 1907, the general store and post office had closed.

Between 1909 and 1910, the land where St. Mary's once stood became part of Bayside. Bayside was a new town founded in 1908. It eventually stretched along Copano Bay for about three and a half miles.

Famous People from St. Mary's

• Clara Driscoll was born in St. Mary's in 1881. She was a kind person who gave a lot of money to good causes. She is known as the "Savior of the Alamo". She worked with the Daughters of the Republic of Texas to help restore and buy the Alamo Mission in San Antonio. This happened between 1903 and 1905.
• Alfred Marmaduke Hobby opened a general store in St. Mary's in 1857. Two years later, he was elected to the Texas House of Representatives. He represented the town and supported states' rights. Hobby fought for the Confederacy during the Civil War. He was also known for writing patriotic poems while he was a soldier.

See also

In Spanish: St. Mary's of Aransas, Texas para niños