{"nrhp_refnum":"79003002","name":"Tarpon Inn","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"200 E. Cotter St","address_restricted":false,"city":"Port Aransas","county":"Nueces County","state":"TX","lat":27.83760615400007,"lon":-97.05991870699995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1979-09-14","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Social History"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story frame hotel with a double veranda at 200 E. Cotter Street in Port Aransas, Nueces County, Texas. The present main building was erected in 1925, succeeding earlier inns on the site dating to 1886.","why_significant":"The inn has been a Gulf Coast landmark for close to a century, hosting vacationers and public figures during Port Aransas's rise as a tarpon fishing destination. Its \"barracks\" style adapts well to the harsh coastal climate, and it is one of the few large structures of this type remaining on the coast. It is also tied to the area's peak popularity from 1920 to 1940.","narrative":"Tarpon Inn is a two-story frame hotel with a double veranda on Cotter Street in Port Aransas, Texas. The first inn was built in 1886 by Frank Stephenson using lumber from a Civil War barracks that had housed a jetty work crew. Fire destroyed it in 1900, two replacement buildings followed, and the 1919 hurricane wrecked the larger one. In 1925 lessee James M. Ellis, with help from J. B. Earl of Waco, rebuilt the inn without an architect, copying the earlier barracks form. The design suits the Gulf climate: a northeast orientation catches the breeze, galleries shade the twenty-six rooms, and telephone poles set in concrete reinforce the square pillars. The inn gained fame as Port Aransas became known as the tarpon capital of the world, with some 7,500 signed tarpon scales mounted in its lobby. Guests included Aimee Semple McPherson, Jesse Jones, and Douglas Corrigan. It remains in use as a hotel and restaurant.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"Frank Stephenson, James M. Ellis","architectural_style":"\"Barracks\" style","criteria":[],"status_note":"Operating as a hotel and restaurant; major repairs were undertaken in 1975 and the owners were investigating restoration possibilities.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:18.635328-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/18/9731/40973118/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_TX/79003002.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/79003002/8bdc45891a-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/79003002/8bdc45891a-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 4.0","author":"Larry D. Moore","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tarpon_inn.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Larry D. Moore</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY 4.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tarpon_inn.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/40973118","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tarpon_Inn","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7686598"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/texas/nueces-county/tarpon-inn-79003002/"}