BLACK POINT, TEXAS. Black Point, an old Spanish landing place, is at the point in Refugio County where the Aransas River flows into Copano Bay. The mouth of the river is quite wide; within it lies a shell reef that was once occupied by Karankawa and Copano Indians. Francis, John, and Thomas Welder landed at Black Point in May 1836 and a few years later established a ranch on the shell reef. They later sold this tract to Philip Dimmitt. From 1838 to 1841 Black Point was a landing depot for munitions and supplies for the Mexican Federalist armies. The Black Point settlement figured in many Indian raids, including the kidnapping of Jacob Kring. Peter Doren (sometimes cited Doring) built a house on the point and established a ranch; his cattle grazed on the free open range. During the period of the Republic of Texas a road ran from Black Point to Refugio. There was also a trail that extended from Black Point around the bay and across Live Oak Peninsula. In the 1840s John H. Wood settled at Black Point. The modern community of Bayside occupies the site.
BIBLIOGRAPHY: Hobart Huson, Refugio: A Comprehensive History of Refugio County from Aboriginal Times to 1953 (2 vols., Woodsboro, Texas: Rooke Foundation, 1953, 1955).
