Rockport Pilot, The

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and here's how I'm gonna pass it along to you. You know, every town worth its salt has got a paper, and Aransas County's story starts earlier than most folks might expect. We're going back to 1868, out in St.

Mary's, where a couple of fellows by the names of Charles F. Bailey and Geraldo A. Beeman were already putting ink to paper.

Their publication was called The Vaquero, and for this corner of Texas coast, that was the beginning of something. Now, Bailey wasn't the kind of man to stay put. Come 1869, he picked up and moved to Rockport, and when he got there, he founded a new paper called The Transcript.

That one had some staying power. The Transcript ran and ran, all the way through 1886. That's not a short chapter, friends.

Two years after The Transcript went quiet, another voice stepped up. The Rockport Enterprise came along, carrying the news for this stretch of coast through its own season. Then 1916 rolls around, and The Enterprise merged with a newer publication called the Rockport Pilot.

Now, other papers did come and go over the years, short runs, brief seasons in the sun. But here's the thing about The Pilot. Since its beginning, it has been the area's primary news source, keeping its eyes and its pages trained on Aransas County issues and events.

From The Vaquero in St. Mary's to The Pilot in Rockport, this county never went long without somebody watching, writing, and telling the story. Turns out that's always been the job.

What the marker says

The earliest newspaper in this area was "The Vaquero," published by Charles F. Bailey and Geraldo A. Beeman in St. Mary's in 1868. In 1869 Bailey moved to Rockport and founded "The Transcript," which continued in operation until 1886. Two years later "The Rockport Enterprise" began, and in 1916 it merged with the new "Rockport Pilot." Other local newspapers existed for short periods, but since its beginning "The Pilot" has been the area's primary news source, focusing on Aransas County issues and events. (1990)