El Campo, Texas

Everything El Campo is known for

3 songs mention this city 3 artists from here

Music in El Campo

Songs About El Campo

El Campo
George West
80%
El Campo
Vallejo
55%
Dear El Campo, Texas
Brian Doria
50%

Artists From El Campo

A
AJ Vallejo
country
L
Larry Callies
country
M
Meskin Ke & Aron
hip-hop

Rivers & Roads in Song near El Campo

Songs written about the waterways and highways that run near El Campo.

Texas State Highway 71 2 songs U.S. Route 59 9 songs Texas Colorado River 6 songs Brazos River 42 songs Interstate 10 36 songs US Route 90 9 songs

History of El Campo

From Prairie Switch to El Campo RoadyGoat

1880

El Campo began as a rail stop called Prairie Switch, planted in 1882 along the New York, Texas and Mexican Railway. That line, chartered in 1880 to link New York toward Mexico, earned the nickname the Macaroni Line because roughly 1,200 Italian laborers laid its track between Rosenberg and Victoria. Herds bound for market were held here on the open coastal prairie, tended largely by Mexican cowboys who camped for days awaiting rail cars. Cowboys admired the spot and dubbed it Pearl of the Prairies. Around 1890 the settlement took a shorter, fitting name: El Campo, Spanish for the field or the camp. A general store rose in 1889, a post office followed in 1890, and the town incorporated on June 19, 1905, growing into the second largest hay-shipping center in the country.

Watering the Rice Prairie RoadyGoat

1900

Around 1901, farmers here bet on a crop that reshaped the coastal prairie: rice, which needs standing water on flat, leveled ground. The grassland was ideal, but rice demands a steady flood, so growers engineered one. Around 1900 three canal systems were built to carry water from the Colorado River, feeding pumping plants that lifted it into leveled fields. Deep-water wells later added a second source, tapping groundwater beneath the prairie. The system spread fast. By 1904 about seventy rice farms and 126 pumping stations ringed El Campo. Mills followed the harvest. The El Campo Rice Milling Company opened in 1903, Broussard Rice Mills joined it, and in 1914 the two merged under the El Campo Rice Milling name, later known as ELCO. That marriage of canals, pumps, and flat prairie made Wharton County a top rice-producing county in Texas.

Czech and German Roots on the Prairie RoadyGoat

1888

As rail and rice pulled newcomers to the prairie, Central European families put down deep roots around El Campo. Many were Czech and German immigrants, part of the wave that settled the Texas coastal plain in the late 1800s. Just southwest of town, the little community of Hillje took its name from Fred Hillje, who bought part of a ranch in 1888 and brought in German and Czech settlers from Weimar. In El Campo itself, congregations organized between 1890 and 1898 included a German Lutheran church alongside Swedish, Baptist, Methodist, and Catholic ones. The Czech community grew strong enough to sustain its own voice: a Czech-language newspaper, Svoboda, meaning freedom, was published here in 1931. That legacy still flavors local kitchens, from sausage to kolaches.

El Campo, TX

1882

El Campo is on U.S. Highway 59 and State Highway 71, thirteen miles southwest of Wharton in south central Wharton County. The Lower Colorado River Authority provides water, and several creeks flow near the city limits. In 1882 a railroad camp called Prairie Switch was situated where El Campo now stands and served as a switching point on New York, Texas and Mexican Railway. Cowboys called the camp "Pearl of the Prairies." Located in the midst of cattle country, the camp was used by Mexican cowboys who changed the name to El Campo in 1890. Ranching was the chief industry, and thousands of cattle were shipped yearly to San Antonio. Four large ranches surrounded the settlement: the Texas Land and Cattle Company (KO Ranch) to the south, the Pierce Ranch to the east, the Herder Ranch to the west, and the Brown Ranch to the north. For several years El Campo had no permanent structures except the section house and a switch serving the cattle-loading chute. In 1889 a general store was built. In 1890 a post office opened. In 1892 the community had an estimated population of twenty-five, a general store, a mill and gin, and a justice of the peace. Settlers began moving into the area and planted rice, cotton, and corn. Hay soon became one of the chief products, and in the early 1900s the town was the second largest hay-shipping center in the United States. The Farmers Union Warehouse Company was established in El Campo. A one-room schoolhouse was built in 1891, and in 1895 an independent school district was established. By 1901 it enrolled 177 students. Between 1890 and 1898 Swedish Lutheran, Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterian, Catholic, German Lutheran, and Swedish Methodist churches were organized. In 1896 a fire destroyed the principal business section; by 1900, 130 businesses had been rebuilt. In 1901 another fire destroyed a large part of the town, and this time the residents built brick buildings. El Campo Brick and Tile Company provided building materials for many of the permanent structures. In 1901 a library was organized. In 1902 the first bank was established. On June 19, 1905, El Campo was incorporated. The El Campo Ice and Water Company was established in 1907. This plant lighted businesses, streets, and homes, and made enough ice to supply the city. The El Campo Rice Milling Company was established in 1903. By 1904 seventy rice farms and 126 pumping stations were in operation around El Campo. Broussard Rice Mills was established, and in 1914 the two rice mills consolidated under the name El Campo Rice Milling Company, now known as ELCO. At one time rice hulls were compressed into bricks used as an experimental building material. The first doctor in El Campo arrived in 1890. By 1906 two funeral homes had been established. In 1910 there were 1,778 residents. The first hospital was established in 1912. The first newspaper was published in 1894. The El Campo News began in 1928 and has survived in the present El Campo Leader News . In 1931 a Czech-language paper, Svoboda , was published. It was later purchased by Culp Krueger and merged with the main newspaper. In the mid-1930s gas and oil were discovered in Wharton County and spawned the local petroleum and oil-service industries. The Texas Company (now Texaco, Incorporated ) established a branch office in El Campo. In 1930 the town had a population of 2,034 and 160 businesses. In 1941 the town had 3,906 residents and twenty-two businesses; the population was 6,216 in 1952, 7,700 in 1961, and 9,995 in 1970. In 1990 agriculture and petroleum related businesses provided the base for local economy. Crops included milo, rice, corn, cotton, and soybeans. Three farm cooperatives were functioning. The area remained a major beef producer as well. Aquaculture products and pecans added to the diversity. Manufactured items included aluminum extrusion, children's clothing, nursery containers, foam cups and containers, and valves. El Campo also had a wholesale nursery. Much of the industrial d

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Greer, Ennis Adolphus

1913

Ennis Adolphus Greer, educator and namesake for the pre-integration African-American high school in El Campo, Texas, was born on July 10, 1896, on a farm in Wharton County, Texas, to Lee and Margareth (also known as Margaret) Greer. Ennis was the youngest of eleven children. Ennis Greer attended grammar school in Wharton. At just ten years of age, he became the Sunday school superintendent at his church, and the following year he was elected a delegate from his church to a district denominational convention. At the age of just seventeen, in about 1913, Greer began teaching Black students in El Campo. The first year he taught seventeen students in seven grades. Those seventeen had been urged to attend by Greer, who canvassed the area to get enough students so that the school would qualify for financial assistance from the state. The second year the school grew to forty-five students; an additional teacher was hired to help Greer with the teaching load. The school board authorized the hiring of that teacher but pledged only half of her $30 per month salary. The school had to raise the other half. Initially classes were conducted in a Methodist church auditorium. Burlap sacks were used to form partitions between "classrooms," and, in addition, other burlap bags were stuffed into holes in the floor to help insulate it from the cold wind outside during the winter. Ennis Greer first attended Houston Colored Junior College and then transferred to Prairie View State Normal and Industrial College, where he earned a teacher's certificate in 1919, but he did not complete his bachelor's degree at that time. He returned to El Campo and resumed teaching. At some point he also became the principal of the school. In 1922 a brick school building for Blacks was constructed in El Campo. At that time it was the first and only such establishment in Wharton County. The lot upon which to construct it cost $150, but, true to form, the school board again authorized just half that amount and said that the school would need to raise the remaining $75. Greer sold peanuts on the streets until he raised that amount of money. The new building contained five classrooms. Soon additional teachers were hired. On December 28, 1925, Ennis Greer married Lyla Bell Roberson from Matagorda, Texas. Like Ennis, she came from a big family. She, too, was well educated; she had four years of college and taught in the Black El Campo high school. They had no children. In 1935 Greer returned to Prairie View and completed his bachelor's degree. Later he attended graduate school at the Colorado State College of Education, now the University of Northern Colorado, in Greely. In 1948 Greer completed his master of science degree at Texas State University for Negroes (now Texas Southern University) in Houston. After each personal educational accomplishment, he returned to his job as principal of the El Campo high school, which was consistently rated as an honor school by the Colored Teachers State Association of Texas (CTSAT). At one point, Greer's role as founder of the school was officially recognized when the school was named for him. Eventually the school building that had been erected in 1922 was not large enough to accommodate the increasing number of students. In 1953 the voters of El Campo approved a school bond issue for $1 million that included funding to build a new school for African Americans . The resulting school building that was again named after Greer contained a cafeteria, a gymnasium, and fifteen classrooms. By early 1954 the enrollment had grown to 335 students. In 1959 the school expanded again to include a chemistry lab, a teacher's lounge, and four more classrooms. Additionally, it received full accreditation from the Southern Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools. It was one of the only schools in the area to do so. Greer was elected to a term as president of the South Texas Teachers Association, an organization comprising thirty counties in the Gul

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El Campo

1882

Begun as a camp on the New York, Texas, and Mexican Railroad in 1882, El Campo initially was known as Prairie Switch and served as a supply and shipping center for area ranchers. By the 1890s the town had grown to include a post office, homes, businesses, schools, and churches. An influx of European immigrants produced a strong ethnic heritage. Fires in 1896 and 1901 destroyed much of the downtown area, but the city rebuilt. Oil and gas discoveries in the 1930s provided an economic boom, although agriculture remains the primary local business.

Historical Marker →

First National Bank of El Campo

1890

The First National Bank of El Campo traces its history to the Koch and Poole Mercantile Company. In 1890 El Campo was an exciting new railroad town. Customers left their money in the Koch and Poole safe for protection, and soon the store assumed the duties of a banking institution. A group of local businessmen purchased the company and applied for a national bank charter, which was granted in January 1902. A two-story bank building was erected on the corner of Monseratte and Post Office Street. The bank's founders were instrumental in the development of El Campo and led efforts to have the city incorporated in 1905. Providing investment capital for the rice and oil industries, which were the foundations of El Campo's economy, the bank grew with the city, survived the Great Depression, and emerged as a strong financial institution serving residents throughout Wharton County. After sixty-five years at the Monseratte St. location the bank moved to a larger facility at this site. It continues to support business, civic, and youth activities throughout the county.

Historical Marker →

El Campo Independent School District

1891

El Campo's first permanent school building was a simple wooden structure built near this site about 1891. El Campo Independent School District was organized in 1895. Early schools were financed through local taxes, individual subscriptions, tuition, class fees, and bank loans. In its early history the district leased a Methodist Episcopal church building, restaurant, store, and Swedish school building as temporary classrooms. A brick schoolhouse, erected at this site in 1902, was razed in 1922 and replaced later that year with larger school facilities. By 1952 ten rural schools moved from the 1922 structure to a new facility opened during the fall of 1953. In 1961 the Crescent Independent School District merged with the district to form El Campo Consolidated Independent School District. Integration of schools in El Campo was achieved by 1968. Since the late 1950s the district has continued to construct new facilities and remodel a number of older facilities. By 1994 El Campo Independent School District's high school, middle school, and three elementary schools served an enrollment of more than 3500 students of varied ethnic and racial backgrounds. (1995)

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Egypt, TX (Wharton County)

1822

Egypt, on Farm Road 102 eleven miles northwest of Wharton, is the oldest community in Wharton County. John C. Clark was there in 1822, and Egypt is located on his league. Robert Kuykendall 's land was below Egypt, and Thomas Rabb 's was above. These three men were among the first of the Austin colony settlers. The land along the Colorado River was the favorite hunting ground of the Karankawa Indians, and Clark, Kuykendall, and Rabb were noted Indian fighters. The area soon became safe enough for others to move into because of the efforts of these men. The original settlement was started in 1829, when Eli Mercer established a plantation and ferry on the Colorado River at the San Felipe-Texana crossing. The road from Matagorda to Columbus crossed the San Felipe-Texana road a mile or so from the river, and the community developed at this junction. The town was originally called Mercer's Crossing, but during a severe drought the area supplied corn to surrounding settlements, and people began to refer to it as Egypt. In 1832 William J. E. Heard started Egypt Plantation on the 2,222 acres he purchased from John C. Clark and built his home in what is now the center of Egypt; in 1992 it was still occupied by his family. The Republic of Texas opened a post office in November 1835 with Eli Mercer as postmaster. By 1840 four different Texas mail routes were passing through Egypt. The fertile soil has made Egypt an agricultural center since its beginning; Mercer produced some of the first sugarcane in Texas, and Heard had a cotton gin in 1836. In February of that year Capt. Thomas Rabb recruited a company of men in the Egypt area. They became Company F of the First Regiment of Texas Volunteers. They were at Gonzales when Gen. Sam Houston arrived, and they made the long retreat across Texas. Under Capt. W. J. E. Heard at San Jacinto, they formed the center of the Texas line and captured the Mexican cannons. During the Runaway Scrape many of the people from west of the Colorado gathered in Egypt, hoping that Houston and the Texas army, which was camped just above Egypt, would keep the Mexicans from crossing the river. During the republic days many prominent Texans lived in Egypt, including William Menefee , who signed the Texas Declaration of Independence ; Dr. John Sutherland , Alamo courier; and Eli Mercer's son-in-law, editor and inventor Gail Borden, Jr. Gen. Thomas J. Rusk and the Texas army established temporary headquarters at Egypt in May 1836 as they followed the retreating Mexican army. The republic opened Post Colorado at Egypt in 1837. In 1839 a stagecoach line, operated by Andrew Northington, served Egypt. By 1840 a general store was well established. Egypt had originally been in Colorado County, but in 1846 it became part of newly established Wharton County. When the first election was held a general store was the polling place; in the 1990 primary election, the general store at Egypt was still the polling place. In 1848 some enterprising people in Egypt built a railroad. The wooden rails were made of hard live oak, and the cars were pulled by horses. It operated between Egypt and Columbus. A school district was established in 1854 and operated until 1958, when it was consolidated with the Hungerford Independent School District. Just before the Civil War Captain Heard's son-in-law Mentor Northington built a new cotton gin, which the family operated for over 100 years. In 1881 George H. Northington and Green C. Duncan built a large general mercantile company in Egypt. The store became the business and social center for a large area of the county. It stocked everything from seeds, farm implements, clothes, and groceries to caskets. The post office moved to the new store when it was built and remained there until 1981, when a new brick building was constructed a block down the street. During the 1930s and until the beginning of World War II a quarter horse racetrack was in operation in Egypt. On race days large crowds of people f

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Sports in El Campo

⭐ HOMETOWN LEGENDS Class 4A · Football

El Campo — El Campo — a college & pro athletic pipeline

5 alumni who reached major-college or pro sports

The El Campo High School athletic program has a history of producing athletes who have gone on to compete at higher levels. This tradition reflects the dedication found within the El Campo community and its sports programs. Several former El Campo High School athletes have made their mark in major college and professional sports, bringing recognition to their hometown.

Among these notable alumni are Arkeith Brown, a former professional football defensive back, and Joey Hunt, an NFL center for the Seattle Seahawks. Rueben Owens II currently plays college football running back for the Texas A&M Aggies. Horace Perkins was a former NFL defensive back for the Kansas City Chiefs, and Vic Vasicek was an NFL football player.

Pro/D1 alumni
5
Class
4A
Key Players
  • Arkeith Brown — former professional football defensive back
  • Joey Hunt — NFL center for the Seattle Seahawks
  • Rueben Owens II — college football running back for the Texas A&M Aggies
  • Horace Perkins — former NFL defensive back for the Kansas City Chiefs
  • Vic Vasicek — NFL football player
The moment

Joey Hunt played as an NFL center for the Seattle Seahawks.

Sources: Wikipedia · SI High School (ScoreBook Live)

Everything Near El Campo

175 stories, landmarks & places within ~20 miles — the same local lore RoadyGoat plays as you drive through.

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