Tarpon Inn, Port Aransas, Texas
History and Haunted!!
I was told by more than one person, that if I was in Port Aransas I needed to go to the Tarpon Inn. Today was the day I decided to do that , so I dressed up a bit. It has a lot of history and stories of being haunted, so it was a fun trip!!
The History
Like a lot of the old buildings in this area, the Tarpon Inn had many lives. It initially was built as barracks for Civil War soldiers. Later the Red Cross used it after hurricanes. Finally it was purchased and turned into an Inn. In the meantime it has suffered damage from hurricanes and nearly burnt to the ground once. Each time it was rebuilt as authentically as possible.
The Inn is named after a fish. Tarpon are really big fish that are great for sport catching. They put up a tremendous fight. But they are not good eating. They were mounted or used for fertilizer and were almost fished out of existence. They are rebounding now, but still remain small compared to what they used to be. It is catch and release. But in the late 1800s and into the middle 1900s people would come to this area to fish for the tarpon as big sport.
This mounted tarpon has been redone, as it is over 70 years old. It is not one of the real big ones. And I like that it is taking Covid precautions!! ๐ They named him Fred, and he has been a part of the Inn like forever!!
For years and years, people came to the Tarpon Inn to stay when they fished . When a large tarpon was caught, a scale was taken from the fish for record . Your name, the date and the size of the fish and/or your hometown were written on this scale. It was then nailed onto the wall in the Inn. The scales were that big! And that is not wallpaper you see in the lobby, those are all scales!! They kind of look like leather. Imagine all the fish that were caught! And that is not all of the scales. Apparently during a previous bankruptcy, the Inn auctioned off a number of scales as well.
They actually have the names from each wall section, cataloged . (Sachi, the manager, spent over 45 minutes with me showing me around and telling me stories.) She said that descendants will often come to the Inn to find the name of their relative on the scale! It has that kind of reputation among fishermen. She related that an elderly lady came to the Inn , was using oxygen and was a bit frail. She was trying to look for her father’s name. They were able to find the section with the catalog, Then had to scan/ read each one. When she found his name, she burst into tears. Now Sachi was concerned and asked if she was OK. The woman had a story to tell. She said she was here , as a little girl, the day that fish was caught by her father ! He was fishing with a fly rod, which is not what you use to catch one of these big fish! He battled it for three hours and she said what she remembered was when he was done, his hands were swollen and all blisters! But he landed the fish! What a memory. ๐
FDR
One of their most famous fisherman, but who did not stay at the Inn because of his wheelchair, was FDR. The year was 1937 in the month of May. He had with him, two captains, a colonel and someone with an unknown rank that were all from the US navy. He also stayed aboard a small Navy ship in the harbor. He had then been president for 4 years already. He and the Navy personnel were successful in landing tarpon. His scale and the scales from the Navy personnel with him are framed and hung in the lobby.
The Haunting
Any place that has been around as long as the Tarpon Inn, has good ghost stories! And this place is no exception. The best part is when guests share unusual observations and were not aware of the hauntings beforehand.
The most famous incident took place in room 29 in the early 1900s. The “lady” in the white dress represents the ghost that is periodically seen . She has a place of honor in the lobby.
Her story took place in room number 29. At that time it was the bridal suite. The couple had just come in for their honeymoon. In the evening the husband stepped outside for a smoke. However he never came back. The bride was so distraught that she hung herself from the columns in her room! ๐ฑSometime later, people reported seeing a woman appear wearing a white dress. Even since Sashi has been there, staff have opened the door to 29 and smelled the aroma of flowers ( believed to represent her presence) even though the room has not been used. Residents have reported going past the room and spotting what looked like somebody hanging. And apparently they knew nothing of the ghost story. She was kind enough to show me room 29!! Which is actively rented out
The entrance is not dramatic and you walk into a small living room. The first thing I did was do a sniff test to see if I could smell flowers. Nope. โน๏ธ
The bedroom is much more attractive.
The bathroom itself was in another room.
Another room is also haunted. This is room 40 .We weren’t able to see that one because it was occupied. Sashi had a bizarre experience in there herself, even though she didn’t really believe in these hauntings. She works there so she stayed overnight in that room one evening just to see. Her friends were a little concerned for her and gave her a call around 10:00 or 11:00 at night. She was talking with them and saying that everything was fine and didn’t believe in the haunting. Suddenly the curtain flowed out from the side of the window toward her knee and then back for no discernible reason. It was so obvious that she left and went to join her friends for a while. When she came back it was around 2 in the morning. She felt better about being in the room and wondered if she had imagined it. So she’s sitting on the bed and her friend is checking on her and again as she’s talking the curtain billows out exactly the same! But this time somebody talks into her ear so clearly that she jumped up and turned around to see who was there! No one. She left and did not spend the night there!!๐
There are more stories of kids being seen outside windows or in the courtyard even though there were no kids around. They’ve had bad hurricanes there, so a lot of people have died. That’s what they think is behind those appearances.
I didn’t remember it, but they have a book in the lobby there on Hurricane Harvey which apparently just decimated Port Aransas. That was in 2017.
She showed me another room and it was just darling.
No haunted stories with this room!
In the attic, this old tub was stored. It had been in one of the rooms when the fire went through years ago. You can imagine how hot the heat was, because it melted the coating on the tub. The tub is apparently some kind of metal, possibly steel.
Attached to the Tarpon Inn is a dining room named The Roosevelt. The restaurant reminds me of the Heidel House in Green Lake Wisconsin. It is a restaurant to go to, to celebrate special occasions and dress up.
I hope you enjoyed the tour, the history and stories of the Tarpon Inn!!