Midfield, Texas

Everything Midfield is known for

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Music in Midfield

Songs About Midfield

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Artists From Midfield

C
Colby Lee Swift
country

Rivers & Roads in Song near Midfield

Songs written about the waterways and highways that run near Midfield.

Texas State Highway 71 2 songs Texas Colorado River 6 songs U.S. Route 59 9 songs Brazos River 42 songs

History of Midfield

Midfield, TX RoadyGoat

Midfield, Texas, out there in Matagorda County, is rice country, plain and simple. You can't drive through in the fall without seeing those massive combines cutting through golden fields, or the irrigation canals crisscrossing the landscape like a roadmap etched in water. Rice farming isn't just what folks do here; it's part of the town's identity. The industry took root in the early 20th century, when farmers realized the coastal prairie's flat terrain and abundant water from the Colorado River were perfect for rice cultivation. The humid subtropical climate helps, too, giving the rice that extra boost it needs. Over the years, families have passed down their knowledge and land, adapting to new technologies and farming practices to keep the rice flowing. It’s a tough business, no doubt, but there's a real sense of pride in growing something that feeds so many, and that spirit has kept Midfield going strong for generations.

Midfield, TX RoadyGoat

Midfield, Texas, sits squarely on the coastal plain, land built slowly by the Colorado River over millennia. This whole region, really, is young in geological terms. You can feel it in the flat, open landscape, the horizon stretching out in every direction. The soil is mostly sandy loam, dark and rich in some places, almost pure sand in others, depending on the river's ancient meanderings. That river, the Colorado, it's the lifeblood of this place. It carved out the land, deposited the soil, and even now, it dictates where things can grow, where towns can thrive. The early settlers understood that connection intimately. They knew the value of bottomland, the fertile ground near the river prone to flooding but impossibly rich. They built their lives around it. Cattle ranching took hold, of course, it's Texas, but so did farming. Rice, especially, became a staple – it loves the flat, easily irrigated fields. The land here isn’t dramatic, no towering mountains or plunging canyons. It's a subtle beauty, a wide-open space that demands a certain kind of resilience. People here have always been resourceful, grounded, and deeply connected to the rhythms of the land and the flow of the river.

Shanghai Pierce: The Coastal Cattle King RoadyGoat

1854

Abel Head "Shanghai" Pierce (1834-1900) was one of Texas's most colorful cattle kings. Born in Rhode Island, he stowed away on a schooner to Texas in 1854, landed near Indianola, and started out splitting rails on the Grimes ranch before branding his own cattle. After serving in the Confederate cavalry he and his brother Jonathan organized Rancho Grande on the Tres Palacios River in Wharton County in 1871; the town of Pierce is named for them. He eventually amassed about 250,000 acres as president of the Pierce-Sullivan Pasture Company, driving and shipping thousands of cattle to northern markets. Convinced that ticks caused Texas fever, he toured Europe seeking a tick-resistant breed and concluded that Brahman cattle were the answer. In the early 1890s he commissioned sculptor Frank Teich to carve a six-and-a-half-foot marble likeness of himself, raised atop a granite monument years before his death; it still marks his grave at Hawley Cemetery near Blessing. Pierce died of a cerebral hemorrhage on December 26, 1900. After his death his estate imported Brahman cattle from India that became the base stock for Texas's great Brahman herds.

3.5 mi away

William Walter "Pudge" Heffelfinger

1867

WILLIAM WALTER “PUDGE” HEFFELFINGER “Pudge” Heffelfinger was born in 1867 in Minneapolis and began playing football at age 15. He organized a team at his high school and played four seasons at Yale on the varsity team where, in 1890, he conceived the idea of the pulling guard play. “Pudge” also played baseball, track and rowed on the Yale crew. He is considered the first professional football player in the U.S., being paid $500 to play in Pittsburgh in 1892. He coached college teams in three states, taking Yale football style to his California team. Heffelfinger married Matagorda county native Grace Harriett Pierce in 1901, and they had three children. “Pudge” was inducted into the college football hall of fame in 1951. He passed away in 1954 at his home near blessing. 					(2014)

Historical Marker → · 3.5 mi away

Deming's Bridge Community

1857

Deming's Bridge CommunityThe Deming's Bridge community grew up around a wooden bridge built over the Tres Palacios River at this site in 1857 for Edward A. Deming, owner of land along the west side of the stream. The crossing provided by Deming's Bridge became a natural gathering place for settlers of western Matagorda County. Tres Palacios Baptist Church, site of many community activities, was established on the east side of the river. The Deming's Bridge Post Office opened in 1858, with Edwin A. Deming serving as postmaster until it was discontinued in 1866. Reinstated in 1872, the post office name was changed to Hawley in 1899. It closed again in 1903 when it was moved to the new settlement of Blessing (2 miles west). A Masonic hall, established in 1874, was also moved to Blessing after location of the railroad there caused a population shift. Hawley Cemetery originated as a two-acre plot of land called Deming's Bridge Cemetery. Among the burials are the graves of brothers and noted cattle ranchers Abel Head "Shanghai" Pierce (1834-1900) and Jonathan Edwards Pierce (1839-1915). Jonathan Pierce donated land to enlarge the cemetery and was instrumental in changing its name in 1898 in honor of Texas Senator Robert B. Hawley (1849-1921). Texas Sesquicentennial 1836-1986

Historical Marker → · 3.4 mi away

Blessing, TX

1903

Blessing is west of the junction of State Highway 35 and Farm Road 616 and twenty miles west of Bay City in northwestern Matagorda County. The town was promoted by Jonathan Edwards Pierce , on whose land it was established. In 1903, when Pierce gave the right-of-way to the Galveston, Harrisburg and San Antonio Railway, the future of the unnamed settlement seemed assured. A grateful Pierce hoped to designate the place "Thank God," but the United States Postal Department rejected his proposal. As a compromise, the place was named Blessing, and a post office opened in 1903, with James H. Logan as first postmaster. Between 1903 and 1905 a library building was attached to the train station. In 1905 the St. Louis, Brownsville and Mexico Railway also built through Blessing. D. A. Wheeler's hotel soon followed. On September 1, 1907, residents platted the townsite, and the townsite company made provisions for school and church sites. In 1909 P. Ansley established a local newspaper. By 1914 Blessing had 500 inhabitants, two churches, a bank, a hotel, a telephone connection, and a weekly newspaper, the Blessing News . In 1925 Blessing's population was still recorded at 500. In 1931 the town had a population of 450 and twenty-two businesses. During the 1937-38 school year, nine teachers instructed 251 White students in eleven grades, and two teachers instructed thirty-eight Black students in seven grades. By 1949 the Blessing district had been consolidated with the Tidehaven Independent School District. In 1945 Blessing's population had risen to 600, served by thirteen businesses. Though in 1966 the population was reported as 1,250; in 1968 it had dropped to 405. In 1990 the town had 571 residents and twelve businesses. In 2000 the population was 861 with thirty-four businesses.

Tsha Handbook → · 4.5 mi away

The F. Cornelius House

1870

Friedrich Caspar Cornelius (1850-1946) migrated from Germany to Texas in 1870, shortening name to F. Cornelius. From employers he learned ranching. By 1875 he owned cattle; bought land here in 1882; built house 1886-88 of lumber hauled from Indianola on an ox-drawn slide. Despite storms and floods, he held and added to his lands, giving portions to his children as they came of age. He was a charter member of the Old Trail Drivers' Association. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1971

Historical Marker →

Wilson Creek (Matagorda County)

1822

Wilson Creek, formerly known as Wilson's Creek, rises 2½ miles west of Markham and just north of Farm Road 2431 in northwest Matagorda County (at 28°58' N, 96°07' W) and flows south for fourteen miles; the stream is crossed by State Highway 35 and the Missouri Pacific Railroad before reaching its mouth on the Tres Palacios River, nine miles northeast of Palacios (at 28°50' N, 96° 08' W). The community of Wilson Creek and a more recent suburban development called Tres Palacios Oaks are located near the creek's mouth. The stream is intermittent in its upper reaches. It flows through flat to rolling prairie with dark calcareous clay soils that principally support hardwoods and grasses. A group of families called "Wilson's party" settled around 1822 on a branch of the Tres Palacios that was probably Wilson's Creek. During the 1800s the creek, and the Tres Palacios below it, proved navigable, and for a time it was used to ship bargeloads of cotton to Matagorda Bay. Several unsuccessful attempts were made to connect Wilson Creek to the navigable section of the Colorado River. These included the Colorado and Wilson Creek Rail Road Company, incorporated in 1846, and the Wilson Creek and Colorado Canal Company, incorporated in 1873.

Tsha Handbook → · 9.1 mi away

Everything Near Midfield

211 stories, landmarks & places within ~20 miles — the nearest 200 are listed here — the same local lore RoadyGoat plays as you drive through.

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