09/13/2026
📸 PORT ARANSAS HISTORY HELP NEEDED! 🏝️
I’ve fallen pretty deep into a Port Aransas history rabbit hole trying to piece together the story of the property that is now Shark Reef Resort at 314 S. Cut-Off Road, and I’m hoping somebody out there has a piece of its history hiding in an old photo album, shoebox, scrapbook, or postcard collection.
I’ve already managed to find some amazing old photos, including the ones in this post, but I’m trying to fill in the missing years and figure out more about the people who stayed, worked, ate, swam, and hung out here over the decades.
Names I’m currently researching include:
-Paradise Isle Motor Hotel / Paradise Isle Motel
-Treasure Isle Motor Hotel / Treasure Isle Motel / Treasure Island
-Pirates Inn / Pirate’s Inn
I’m especially looking for anything from the late 1950s through the 1990s, and it absolutely does not need to be a professional photo.
Family vacation pictures, kids in the pool, people standing by their cars, room photos, employees, the roadside sign, restaurant or coffee shop, menus, postcards, brochures, matchbooks, keychains, advertisements; honestly, anything that might show the property or mention one of those names could help.
I’ve also been researching some of the people connected to the property over the years, including W.C. (William Clement) and Geraldine Price, Jake Stevens, Billie Howell, Bill and Jean Stephens, Frank Lazenby, and Paul and Stacy Bisbikos.
If any of those names ring a bell, please tell me!
And even if you have an old Port Aransas photo and you’re not sure what motel is in the background, send it anyway. 😂 At this point I’ve spent so much time staring at old aerials and postcards that I can recognize this little U-shaped motel from some truly terrible pictures.
❤️ Please share this with longtime Port Aransas residents, former employees, and families who have been vacationing here for generations.
I know there are more photos of this place sitting in boxes somewhere. 😂 Help me find them!