Farley Boat planters are historical icons

Many residents choose to paint their own Farley Boat planters. Those colorful concrete boat planters seen all around town are more than frivolous décor. They represent an important part of island history.

Called Farley boats, they are a reminder of pioneer families on the island, the boats they made and how integral fishing has been to the economy and life on the island.

The Farley family, which has had roots in Port Aransas since near the turn of the last century, is inextricably linked to the wooden fishing boats they designed and built, and that helped make the city famous as a fishing destination.

Photos of original Farley boats and some of the tools used in their shop can be seen at the Port Aransas Museum, at the corner of Alister and Brundrett Streets.

In 1910, Barney and Marie Farley arrived here with their two sons, Ray and Barney Jr. He was a fisherman and guide.

In 1915, Barney’s brother, Charles Frederick “C.F.” Farley arrived in Port Aransas with his wife, Mabel. He came here to build boats. Born in Comanche, he built lighthouses along the coast before the couple moved here from Orange.

C.F. designed and built the first Farley boat at the business he created, Fred Farley and Sons, Boat Builders.

Boats made by the firm were “the” boats of their day. The boats were built from scratch with no written plans. Two of C.F.’s sons, James “Jim” and Fred, carried on the legacy by building boats through the late 1960’s. Another son, Don, was a fisherman and guide who, with his uncle Barney, took President Franklin D. Roosevelt and his son Elliott fishing (in a Farley boat, of course) in May of 1937.

Fred, who was inducted to the Port Aransas Boatmen’s Hall of Fame in 2001, was “raised” in the boat shop owned by his father and his older brother, Jim. He was known as a guide, fisherman, boat-builder, carpenter and cabinetmaker.

Farley boats were prevalent in the Tarpon Rodeo, which later became the Deep Sea Roundup.

Sims Mathews of Port Aransas had two Farley boats made for his brothers, Teddy and Johnny, both fishing guides. Teddy’s daughter, Marcy Thomas, remembers as a young child going to the shop as they were being made.

“There were long curls of wood all around from where they shaped the pieces that formed the boat,” she said. “It was a sight to see how they just put it together by instinct. They were beautiful boats.” She said her dad used his boat for years, then rented it out to other guides to use. Flying debris during Hurricane Celia ruined it as it sat on cement blocks by the house.

This part of the town’s history has been brought to the public’s eye through the Port Aransas Garden Club. The club commissioned an artist to create a mold for a Farley boat planter with the help of Port Aransas artist Flint Reed and a model made by Jo Leta Gavit. Although the planters could not be made to scale (the original boats were too long and thin to make the planter proportionate), the boat planters are becoming a theme seen all over town.

Some of the boats adorn businesses while others are in front of private residences.

Some sport plants and some have fishermen (or boys). All are decorated in some manner, some much more flamboyantly than others. One has a mermaid, another a Mexican design to match the business owning it. City-owned planters sport gulf fish, bird and beach themes. The colors of the boats cover a wide range.

The Port Aransas Garden Club created the planters to beautify, add color and plants, recognize a part of history and give the town another reason to be remembered.

The planters are about 6.5 feet long, 2.5 feet wide, and weigh about 1,800 pounds. The outside has a wood grain texture look. The Farley boat name is on both sides and Port Aransas, Texas, is on the back. Two planting areas are inside the boats.

The club sells the boats for $350 each.

To purchase a planter contact the Port Aransas Business Center at 600 Cut-off Rd., Ste. 1 or (361) 749-6291.