As Rockport grew as a center of commerce and a tourism destination in the 1880s, businessman Sam Smith, who owned several homes and businesses, donated the city’s first firefighting equipment, a horse-drawn wagon with chemical tanks that cost about $1400. With W. S. Doughty the first to drive the wagon to a fire and Fred Hoopes named as the first fire chief, the Rockport Volunteer Fire Department organized in 1885. In 1913, a Model T Ford was purchased for $300 and remained in use even after larger trucks were acquired. Interest in the volunteer fire department waned in the 1920s but revived in June 1938 after a nighttime blaze consumed the Natalie Apartment House, also called the Old Grewe Place; a fortunate change in wind direction and help from the Aransas Pass Fire Department minimized damage to surrounding properties. The following week, Dr. Albert Collier organized the Aransas County Emergency Corps, whose first unit was the Rockport Volunteer Fire Department with Collier as fire chief. The corps’ mission was to provide fire protection, patrol the beaches, and run an ambulance service. Within six months, a city bond election passed, water mains were installed, and the city purchased a 600-gallon-per-minute pumper. The first permanent fire station was completed on St. Mary’s Street in July 1939. Hurricane Celia damaged that facility in 1970, and a new main station was built on Concho Street in 1972. As the city grew, satellite stations were added, beginning with a site on Henderson Street in 1983. Although the department has received city and county funding as well as donations and grants for equipment, volunteers, including some from multiple generations, remain at its heart, trained to save lives and property.