Estes

Estes is a tiny community located on State Highway 35 about four miles southwest of Rockport in southern Aransas County. The rural village probably began in the late 1800s, when early settlers Addison and Joyce William Barber purchased land to raise cattle. Other farmers moved to the region, which became known as Estes Flats. The town had a post office, under the name Estes, from 1909 to 1914, a school, and probably other businesses. The great hurricane of 1919 destroyed the town, and Estes was slow to recover. Residents built another one-room school in 1935, and 1936 county maps showed the school, a business, and dwellings in the vicinity of the Texas and New Orleans (later Southern Pacific) Railroad. Eventually the schoolhouse was moved to nearby Rockport. During the second half of the twentieth century, Estes declined and by 1990 consisted of scattered rural residences and a population of 50, a figure that stayed consistent through 2000. Estes Flats and Estes Cove were landmarks in the area.