The Rockport-Fulton Chamber of Commerce has created an official GeoTour. Come Find Yourself in Rockport-Fulton for beachcombing, fishing, art, fun, birdwatching, kayaking, museums, history, seafood and more! More than 40 geocaches and bonus geocaches have been hidden in special places throughout the Rockport-Fulton area. Use your geocaching app or GPS to go on an adventure through our peninsula on the beautiful coast of Texas! Take pictures and post to social media using the hashtag #FindYourselfinRockportFulton #RFGeoTour #GeoTour.
The Lamar Cemetery, located at 222 Hagy Drive, lies in an acre of wooded land in Lamar Community, ten miles north of Rockport, Texas, near Goose Island State Park.
We would like to extend appreciation to The Lamar Cemetery Association, who has given permission and has provided, placed and is maintaining this geocache location. The Lamar Cemetery Association is a non-profit organization and relies on volunteer workers, donations and memorials to meet its obligations. Members of the community have worked in the cemetery for many years, mowing, watering, weeding and planting. A Maintenance Committee was formed in 1986 to care for the grounds. The grass is not mowed during the spring months when the wildflowers are in bloom. Ma & Pa Kettle maintained a cache at this location for many years. The cache has room for SWAG and TB’s. There is a fun container within a watertight container, please leave both containers. Please show the cemetery proper respect. CITO is always appreciated! Property managers have asked that cachers visit only during daylight hours. Thank you!
In 1838, James W. Byrne and associates bought a league of land on Lookout Point and laid out the townsite of Lamar, named for Mirabeau B. Lamar, then president of the Republic of Texas. Byrne’s family of County Wicklow, Ireland had fled British persecution. After immigrating to America, Byrne fought the British in the war of 1812. He fought in the Texas Revolution, surviving the Battle of Goliad. He served as Senator in the 5th, 6th and 7th Congresses of the Republic.
With the founding of Lamar, an area was set aside for a cemetery. The oldest grave marker is that of Patrick O’Connor (1822-1854), a direct descendent of Roderick O’Connor, the last king of Ireland. O’Connor was the New Orleans bookkeeper of James Byrne and was married to Jane Gregory. O’Connor died only hours after arriving in Lamar. Jane came to Lamar with her infant son and in 1855 bought land on Aransas Bay where she established her school. Families moved to Lamar so their children could attend Mrs. O’ Connor’s famous school.
The earliest known soldier buried in Lamar is John Fagan (1820-1860). In the Texas Revolution, he fought at the battles of Lipantitlan and Goliad.
In 1856-1861, Samuel Colt, the gunmaker, acquired from Byrne an approximate ½ interest in the Lamar townsite. He died in 1862 without paying Byrne. His heirs issued a quit claim deed in 1870. Although the myth lingers that Colt is buried in Lamar, he actually lies in Hartford, Connecticut.
At least nine members of the Wells family are buried in Lamar. Jim Wells County was named for James, Jr. who became a prominent judge in South Texas. Local historians believe Lydia Ann Channel and lighthouse was named for Lydia Ann Dana Hastings Hull Wells, wife of James B. Wells, a veteran of the Texas Revolution who settled on St. Joseph Island with his family and raised cattle for several decades until his death in 1880.
Leonard Roberts (1860-1912) was the last person buried in the Lamar Cemetery until the 1940’s. When the railroad passed it by and in 1915 the post office closed, Lamar dwindled and nearly vanished. The cemetery, covered with vines and brambles, had become the "Lost Lamar Cemetery", and only the old timers knew its exact location. In 1914 the land surrounding and including the cemetery was apportioned to Kate Edwards in a famous lawsuit involving most of the early families of Lamar.
When, Kroeger family wished to bury John Henry, Jr. (who died in 1944) in the Lamar Cemetery, few remembered where it was. A quit claim deed was acquired from the Edwards Estate, and Mae Delisle Kroeger, John Henry Jr.’s sister, organized a cemetery association and raised money to have the cemetery cleared and restored.
In 1968, the Lamar Woman’s Club sponsored the reorganization of the Lamar Cemetery Association, and a historical marker was obtained and dedicated in 1982. Members of the pioneer families attended from all over Texas.
The oldest structure in Aransas County, Stella Maris-Star of the Sea-was moved to its location across from the cemetery in May 1986. (It was previously located on House Schoenstatt property overlooking Aransas Bay.) James Byrne gave the land for the chapel in 1854.