Rockport was born of cattle country necessity. Colonel James Power is said to have noted the site of the present city of Rockport as having good possibilities for a port. The site was included in one of the numerous grants which he and Dr. Hewetson had purchased direct from the State of Coahuila and Texas. As observed before, Power's title failed in litigation withy Joseph F. Smith and the junior locations made by Smith for General Thomas Taylor Williamson covering the site of Rockport prevailed. Taylor's army had camped there in 1845. Exactly when Rockport first claimed status of a township is a bit vague. During the course of its history the vicinity bore the names of Rocky Point, Rockport then Aransas Pass, and was changed back again to Rockport.
Nothing was done about developing a port at this locality until 1866. Because of the destruction by the Federals of the war facilities at St. Mary's, and the danger and difficult to large vessels in navigating the dangerous shoals of Copano Bay, Colonel John Wood and his son, Richard H. Wood (a veteran of the battle of San Jacinto) , along with James M. Daughty, was led to look elsewhere for a plan from which they could ship cattle by sea. Richard H. Wood and Doughty built the first cattle pens at Rockport in 1866. In the project, they had the support of Captain Dan Doughty and Jeremiah and Robert Driscoll. Shortly thereafter, the Wood family acquired exclusive ownership of St. Joseph's Island, and began operating a cattle ranch there.
In February, 1867, J.M. and T.H. Mathis came to Live Oak Peninsula to live. They saw possibilities in Rockport as a shipping point, and associated themselves with James M. Doughty in the cattle business. The association with Doughty continued from 1869 to 1871 when the great firm of Coleman, Mathis & Fulton was organized.
In 1868, Joseph F. Smith and Col. John H. Wood built a livestock shipping wharf into Aransas Bay. They had previously been partners in the founding of St. Mary's. The Coleman, Mathis & Fulton Company, named for the cattle barons who organized it also built a similar wharf, extending out from where the La Playa Hotel was later located.
Ashore, Smith and Wood laid out the northern portion of the townsite of Rockport on 640 acres of land, and the southern half of the town was platted by J.M. Doughty, T.H Mathis and J.M. Mathis.
The Rockport Pilot, in its 1940 Historical Edition, recounted the founding of Rockport as follows:
"Pending the time that a deep water harbor could be located and developed negotiations were started with some of the shipping concerns for transportation by water of the cattle from this section of the country. This movement on the part of the ranch people encouraged a sub-division and sale of property for the townsite selected for the port. Due to the natural facilities for construction of a real port, Rockport had been chosen as a logical place. Encouraged by the prospects , the owners of the land quickly took advantage of the opportunities and proceeded to subdivide a large area of the town site. Joseph F. Smith and John H. Wood were at that time looking back at the accomplishment that they had already achieved in subdividing properties at St. Mary's and the property attracted their attention."