DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the Rockport Volunteer Fire Department. Now settle in, because this one starts with a single man and a horse-drawn wagon and runs all the way to the present day — and there's a wind shift in the middle that changes everything. Back in the 1880s, Rockport was growing into something.
A center of commerce, a tourism destination, the kind of place where a businessman with vision could really plant his roots. Sam Smith was exactly that kind of man. He owned several homes and businesses around town, and when Rockport needed its first firefighting equipment, Smith donated it himself.
The unit cost about fourteen hundred dollars — a horse-drawn wagon rigged up with chemical tanks. Not glamorous, but it was something. W.
S. Doughty was the first to drive that wagon to a fire, and Fred Hoopes was named the first fire chief. The Rockport Volunteer Fire Department organized in 1885, and they were in business.
In 1913, the department picked up a Model T Ford for three hundred dollars. Three hundred dollars. And you know what?
That little car kept on serving even after larger trucks came along. The Model T wasn't going anywhere. Then the 1920s rolled in, and interest in the Volunteer Fire Department waned.
It happens. Towns get comfortable, memories of close calls fade, priorities drift. And for a while, Rockport was without the fire protection it probably should have had.
Now here's where the story turns. June 1938. Nighttime.
A blaze broke out and consumed the Natalie Apartment House — the Old Grewe Place. The flames ate it up in the dark, and the properties around it were right there, waiting. What saved them was a fortunate change in wind direction and the help of the Aransas Pass Fire Department.
That wind shifted at just the right moment. You don't forget something like that. The very next week, Dr.
Albert Collier organized the Aransas County Emergency Corps — the ACEC. Its first unit was the Rockport Volunteer Fire Department, with Collier himself as Fire Chief. The mission was broad: fire protection, beach patrol, and running an ambulance service.
The community answered. Within six months, a city bond election passed, water mains were installed, and the city purchased a six-hundred-gallon-per-minute pumper. That is not a small thing.
Rockport was serious now. The first permanent fire station was completed on St. Mary's Street in July 1939.
It stood for decades, until Hurricane Celia damaged the facility in 1970. A new main station rose on Concho Street in 1972, and as the city kept growing, satellite stations followed — starting with a site on Henderson Street in 1983. City funding, county funding, donations, grants — the department has drawn support from every direction.
But the marker is clear about what sits at the heart of it all: the volunteers. Some of them representing multiple generations of the same families, trained to save lives and property, showing up the way W. S.
Doughty showed up to that very first call with nothing but a horse-drawn wagon and a chemical tank. Rockport's had its fires, its storms, its close calls. But it's also had its people.
What the marker says
As Rockport grew as a center of commerce and a tourism destination in the 1880s, businessman Sam Smith, who owned several homes and businesses, donated the city’s first firefighting equipment. The unit cost about $1400 and consisted of a horse-drawn wagon with chemical tanks. With W. S. Doughty the first to drive the wagon to a fire and Fred Hoopes named as the first fire chief, the Rockport Volunteer Fire Department organized in 1885. In 1913, a Model T Ford was purchased for $300, remaining in use even after larger trucks were acquired. Interest in the Volunteer Fire Department waned in the 1920s but was revived in June 1938, following a nighttime blaze which consumed the Natalie Apartment House (the Old Grewe Place). A fortunate change in wind direction and the help of the Aransas Pass Fire Department helped minimize damage to surrounding properties. In response, the following week Dr. Albert Collier organized the Aransas County Emergency Corps (ACEC), whose first unit was the Rockport Volunteer Fire Department with Collier as Fire Chief. The mission of the ACEC was to provide fire protection, patrol the beaches, and run an ambulance service. Within six months, a city bond election passed, water mains were installed and the city purchased a 600-gallon-per-minute pumper. The first permanent fire station was completed on St. Mary’s street in July 1939. Hurricane Celia damaged that facility in 1970, and a new main station was built on Concho Street in 1972. Satellite stations have been built as the city has grown, beginning with a site on Henderson Street in 1983. While the department has received city and county funding plus donations and grants for equipment, volunteers, some representing multiple generations, remain the heart of the department trained to save lives and property.