Frank Stephenson, a boat pilot and assistant Aransas Lighthouse keeper, opened an inn at this site in 1886 in an old barracks and named it Tarpon Inn for the abundant trophy fish in nearby Gulf waters. The inn served as a landmark for sailors, and Port Aransas was known for a time as Tarpon. In 1897, Mary Cotter and her son J.E. bought the two-story inn from Stephenson. After the building burned in 1900, two new structures were built in 1904. When the 1919 hurricane destroyed the main structure, the dining facility was used until it was sold in 1923 to James M. Ellis and his wife. Ellis soon rebuilt the inn to resemble the old barracks, placing 20-foot poles in 16 feet of concrete with pilings at the corner of each room to reinforce it against future hurricanes. For a time guests could reach the inn only by boat. It became a tradition to sign and date a tarpon scale and place it on the wall in the front room. Among the famous patrons was President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who fished here in 1937. Duncan Hines spent his honeymoon here and recommended the food for the next 25 years. The inn has housed many area residents during storms and served as headquarters for the Red Cross, Salvation Army, and military units.
