Name: Devine, Texas
Address: Devine, TX

The Dam That Watered These Fields by Gravity Alone RoadyGoat

1910

The water that transformed Devine's farms came from an engineering marvel about 30 miles north. Completed in 1912, Medina Dam stretched 1,580 feet long and rose 164 feet high, holding roughly 292,000 cubic yards of concrete. It was called the largest hydraulic engineering project west of the Mississippi and one of the largest dams in the nation at the time. Designed and financed by engineer Frederick Stark Pearson, it took around 1,500 workers laboring day and night. The clever part is what came next: the entire canal network was laid out to move water to farms around Devine, Natalia, and La Coste using gravity alone, no pumps. Engineers surveyed a gentle, continuous downhill slope so water flowed on its own across tens of thousands of acres.

Named for a Judge Who Never Lived Here RoadyGoat

1877

Devine was almost called Nicksville. John L. Nicks was the first known settler, running a trading post and stagecoach stop a couple of miles west of the modern town. He served as postmaster, storekeeper, and justice of the peace, so people sometimes called the place Nicksville. When the International and Great Northern Railroad pushed its line from San Antonio toward Laredo in 1881, it set a depot to the east, and Nicks moved his store and post office beside it. The railroad, not the residents, named the station for Judge Thomas Jefferson Devine, a San Antonio jurist who worked as the line's attorney. Here is the twist: Devine was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia, in 1820, spent his career on San Antonio's benches, and died in that city in 1890. He never lived in the town that carries his name. Despite the spelling, the name has nothing to do with the word divine. It honors a person. The town incorporated in 1904 with 504 residents.

RoadyGoat →

When Water Changed What Grew Here RoadyGoat

1900

For its first decades, Devine ran on cotton. That changed in 1915, when the Medina Irrigation Company began delivering gravity-flow water from distant Medina Lake to the fields below the Balcones Escarpment. With reliable water, farmers traded cotton for vegetables, corn, and small grains. The town's population roughly doubled to 1,000 as the new economy took hold, then held steady into the early 1940s. Devine grew into the largest Spanish peanut shipping center in South Texas, moving the small, oil-rich peanuts by rail. The area also became known for white corn, milled into meal for tortillas. It is a quiet lesson in how a single engineering decision upstream can rewrite what a whole town plants, ships, and eats.

Devine, Judge Thomas J.

1843

Born in Nova Scotia. Came to Texas in 1843. Became District Judge, 1851. On the powerful Public Safety Committee of the Texas Secession Convention, 1861. Named with Samuel A. Maverick and Philip N. Luckett to take possession of the federal property in Texas. Backed by Col. Ben McCulloch and 1,200 minute men, forced surrender of 3,000 troops with arms, ammunition, supplies and $30,000 cash. Served throughout the Civil War as one of two Confederate Judges in Texas. Tried cases of persons accused of Union sympathies; dispositions of goods owned by Northern enemy; and maritime disputes arising from the coastal blockade and shipwrecks. In 1864 was made Special Commissioner to settle disputes among foreign merchants handling cotton (South's only medium of trade for vital supplies) across the Mexican boundary. At war's end, left with other Texas leaders hoping to continue fight from Mexico. On his return became only Southerner besides President Jefferson Davis to be twice indicated for treason. Was pardoned in June 1867 by President Andrew Johnson. On Texas Supreme Court and University of Texas Board of Regents. This town named for him in 1882.

Historical Marker →

Devine Evergreen Cemetery

1872

Although a fire destroyed the earliest written records of this burial ground, it is known that the first graves are those of Elisha Whitley and Henry McCray who were killed by hostile Indians in 1872. Another early grave is that of Isaac Galbreath (d. 1874), killed by Indians at the age of seventeen. His father, Thomas Galbreath (1823-1902), a Texas Ranger and veteran of the Mexican War (1846-48), is also interred here. The town of Devine was established in 1881 when a line of the International and Great Northern Railroad was competed from San Antonio to Laredo. It was named for Judge Thomas J. Devine who served as the Attorney for the Railroad Company. J.M. Bright (b. 1830), owner of land platted for the townsite, is buried here. In 1891 P.C. Hattox conveyed the original 6.5 acres of land at this site for designation as Evergreen Cemetery. A cemetery association, formed the same year, was set up to sell lots and direct volunteer clean-up days. Additional property was later acquired to provide for future expansion. Reorganized in the 1960s because of the declining condition of the cemetery, the association provided for the collection of voluntary donations to be used for maintenance of the grounds. 1980

Historical Marker →

Natalia, TX

1912

Natalia is on the main line of the Missouri Pacific Railroad and Interstate Highway 35, sixteen miles southeast of Hondo in southeastern Medina County. It was founded by the Medina Irrigation Company in 1912 and named after Natalie Pearson, daughter of Fred Stark Pearson , prime motivator of the irrigation project and builder of the Medina Dam. The community has had a post office since 1913; Natalie's name was spelled wrong. After the deaths of Pearson and his wife, who were passengers on the Lusitania when it went down in 1915, the Medina Irrigation Company was forced into receivership. It was subsequently incorporated under the name of Medina Irrigated Farms in 1931 after several failed attempts at refinancing. Bonds in the amount of $2.5 million were issued to pay for Medina valley irrigation and to provide a loan fund for prospective land purchasers. Charles F. C. Ladd acted as chief sales agent for the developers. His campaign was successful, and the town grew with the prosperity of the surrounding agricultural venture. In 1939 it had 400 residents, as compared with 150 in 1933. In 1931 the Griggs Canning plant was established in Natalia. In peak seasons this plant employed 500 people to can the many varieties of vegetables grown in the surrounding irrigated valley. In 1950 Medina Irrigated Farms was sold for a token fee to a group of local residents and now operates as a virtual public utility under the name of Bexar-Medina-Atascosa Counties Water Control and Improvement District No. 1. In 1976 the canning company was sold and converted into the Gold Bond Manufacturing Company, which produces carpet padding. Natalia was incorporated in 1968 under an aldermanic type of government with a mayor and four aldermen elected by the residents. Natalia Independent School District maintains an accredited public school system for grades K-12. The town continued to increase in population, despite a downturn in the late 1960s. In 1988 it had 1,514 residents and twelve businesses. The population in 1990 was 1,545. By 2000 the population was 1,663.

Tsha Handbook → · 4.2 mi away

Devine, TX

1881

Devine, on old U.S. Highway 81, Interstate Highway 35, and State Highway 173, thirty miles southwest of San Antonio in southeast Medina County, was established in 1881 when the rails of the International-Great Northern Railroad were extended from San Antonio to Laredo. It was named for Judge Thomas Jefferson Devine of San Antonio, an eminent Texas jurist and attorney for the railroad. Devine had a population of 504 when it was incorporated in 1904. It operates under the aldermanic form of government. The surrounding area was placed under irrigation in 1915 by Medina Irrigation Company, which furnishes gravity-flow irrigation from the waters of Medina Lake. Vegetables, corn, and small grains replaced cotton, which had been the principal crop until the advent of irrigation. The area is still noted for its production of white corn, which is milled and used in making tortillas. The town's population doubled to 1,000 when irrigation became possible, and it held steady until the early 1940s. During the 1920s natural gas and oil were discovered in the Devine area. Since the 1940s the community's proximity to San Antonio and the military installations in that area made it an ideal semirural alternative to city living. The population increased from 1,400 in 1941 to 4,016 in 1988. Rated businesses numbered ninety from 1961 to the mid-1980s. Devine has a municipal airport, a public library, a golf course, a public swimming pool, and two nursing homes. It is the site of the largest Spanish peanut shipping center in South Texas. Among its other prominent businesses are Texas Tire Test Fleet, Levans Manufacturing Company that makes women's undergarments, two banks, a farmer's co-op, two weekly newspapers, and two feedlots. The Devine Independent School District had an enrollment of 1,400 students, and Devine had a population of 3,928 in 1990. The population grew to 4,140 by 2000.

Tsha Handbook →

Stroud's Blacksmith Shop

1903

Joe Stroud (1877-1966) came here from Bigfoot in 1903, and established a blacksmith shop on this site, continuing in the craft learned from his father. Stroud soon became known throughout the southwest for his branding irons, and had a reputation as an expert farrier, once shodding all four feet of a horse in nine minutes. He persisted in working in the shop until shortly before his death. Although the business has expanded, the original anvil still rings loud from the blows of Sherille Stroud, who maintains the Stroud family tradition. 1975

Historical Marker →

Winters, James Washington, Jr.

1836

James Washington Winters, Jr., soldier, was born in Giles County, Tennessee, on January 21, 1817, the son of James Washington Winters, Sr., and Rhoda Creel (Beal) Winters. After sojourning in Memphis for a time, Winters's father moved his wife and numerous children (as many as sixteen) to the Vehlein colony in present Montgomery County in 1834. In company with George A. Lamb , they settled on Winters Bayou in the Big Thicket between the forks of the San Jacinto River twelve miles below the site of present Huntsville. For a time Winters apprenticed to a blacksmith in Montgomery. In late 1835, with his father and brothers, he volunteered for service at the siege of Bexar . Upon reaching San Felipe de Austin, however, the party learned of the surrender of Martín Perfecto de Cos and so returned to their farm. On March 18, 1836, Winters enlisted in Capt. William Ware 's company of independent volunteers. Also serving in this company were his brothers, Sgt. William C. Winters and Pvt. John F. Winters. Ware's company tried to hold Dewees's crossing on the Colorado River against the army of Mexican general Antonio López de Santa Anna , but was ordered to fall back by Sam Houston , who was retreating from the Colorado. Ware's company then joined Houston's army and was designated the Second Company of Col. Sidney Sherman 's Second Regiment, Texas Volunteers. All three of the Winters men took part in the battle of San Jacinto , where William C. Winters was severely wounded. In 1837 Winters served under Capt. Jerry Washam in pursuit of a group of Indians who had raided near present Anderson. At Montgomery on September 14, 1837, he married Pearcy (Percy) Z. Tullis, a native of Jackson, Mississippi. By 1840 the couple owned 177 acres in Montgomery County. In 1842, in response to the Adrián Woll raid, Winter joined Capt. Albert Gallatin 's company of Brig. Gen. Alexander Somervell 's Army of the South West and took part in the Somervell expedition . He returned from the Rio Grande with Somervell, declining to take part in the infamous Mier expedition . About 1848 Winters moved his family to the site of present Wimberley to help his brother William build a saw and grist mill. He then went into the mercantile business in Prairie Lea, Caldwell County, but that venture was unsuccessful. Winters next opened a store at the site of present Moulton in Lavaca County. In 1852 he moved to a ranch on the Nueces River east of the Live Oak County community of Oakville. In August 1861, following the outbreak of the Civil War , Winters organized the Oakville Precinct Reserve Company, which later became part of the Twenty-ninth Brigade, Texas State Militia. During the war Winters served as enrolling officer and provost marshall for Live Oak and McMullen counties. After the collapse of the Confederacy he moved his family to Tuxpan, Mexico, where he built a sugar mill and farmed for eight years. In Mexico Winters lost two of his eight children and his wife, who died on February 7, 1874. Winters returned to Texas and settled in Beeville for two years, then bought a farm near Bigfoot, eighteen miles north of Pearsall in Frio County. In 1901 the Daughters of the Republic of Texas asked Winters to help them identify important points on the San Jacinto battlefield for the purpose of erecting historical markers. At that time several DRT members interviewed Winters about his early life and his experiences during the Texas Revolution . Winters's responses were recorded by Adina de Zavala and Adele L. B. Looscan and published in the Quarterly of the Texas State Historical Association (later Southwestern Historical Quarterly ) in October 1902. After the death of his first wife Winters married Elizabeth Weir (Wier), who died in 1894 or 1895. Winters died near Bigfoot on November 13 or 14, 1903, and was buried in Brummett Cemetery, three miles northeast of Bigfoot. One of the last survivors of the battle of San Jacinto, Winters served as second vice president of the Texas

Tsha Handbook → · 6.6 mi away

Devine, Texas

Music in Devine

Songs About Devine

Artists From Devine

Rivers & Roads in Song near Devine

History of Devine

The Dam That Watered These Fields by Gravity Alone RoadyGoat

Named for a Judge Who Never Lived Here RoadyGoat

When Water Changed What Grew Here RoadyGoat

Devine, Judge Thomas J.

Devine Evergreen Cemetery

Natalia, TX

Devine, TX

Stroud's Blacksmith Shop

Winters, James Washington, Jr.

Things to Do in Devine

Everything Near Devine