Copano Bay
| Copano Bay | |
|---|---|
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| Location | Texas Gulf Coast |
| Coordinates | 28°07′12″N 97°06′38″W / 28.12000°N 97.11056°W |
| River sources | Aransas River, Copano Creek, Mission River |
| Ocean/sea sources | Gulf of Mexico |
| Basin countries | United States |
Copano Bay is a northwestern extension of Aransas Bay, west of Rockport, Texas in Refugio and Aransas counties. It is supplied with seawater from the Gulf of Mexico via Aransas Bay, and fed freshwater from the Aransas River, Mission River and Copano Creek. As an estuary, the bay is home to a diverse ecosystem consisting of various birds including the endangered whooping crane, and numerous finfish including the redfish as well as shellfish such as oysters. It is classified as a nursery for shrimp, which prohibits production from the bay. Copano Bay is also a historic location for human usage and settlement that dates back to the 18th century, beginning with the historic port of El Copano and the 19th century settlements of St. Mary's of Aransas and Copano. The present-day towns of Bayside, Copano Village and Holiday Beach were all founded in the 20th century. Oil and natural gas are pumped from below the bay's surface, and contribute to the livelihood of the local economies.
Copano Bay was inhabited by the nomadic Aransas Indians, who constructed camps along the shore, 4,000 years ago. The Aransas people left the area approximately 700 years ago, and were replaced around 1400 CE by the Copane Indians, for whom the bay is named. The Copane were one of five groups making up the Karankawas, hunter-gatherers who occupied the mid-Texas coast.
Cabeza de Vaca is thought to have been the first European to sight the bay in the early 16th century, evidenced by the descriptions in his logs that match the detail of the area. In 1766, Spaniard Diego Ortiz Parrilla is believed to be the first European to explore the bay. He named it Santo Domingo (Saint Dominic), but it was later changed to Copano, after the port of Copano was officially opened in 1785 on the northwestern shore. The port later served as a strategically important locale during the Texas Revolution and the American Civil War, and was the site of a settlement that is now completely abandoned. The town of St. Mary's of Aransas was founded southwest of Copano and thrived as a port and wood mart, until numerous shipwrecks caused by the bay's hidden reefs concluded its use in 1875. Like Copano, it is now abandoned.
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Wikipedia