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Matagorda Bay, a large Gulf of Mexico bay on the Texas coast, is one of seven major estuaries along the Gulf Coast of Texas. It serves as the mouth of numerous streams, most notably the Lavaca and Colorado Rivers. The bay is separated from the Gulf of Mexico by Matagorda Peninsula, and its shore, especially near the Colorado River delta, provides a habitat for a wide variety of wildlife.
The wildlife near Matagorda Bay serves as a basis for birding and fishing tourism and is an essential component of the production of seafood, specifically shrimp and blue crab, which are the specialties of the area. The fertile land near the bay is ideal for farming, especially for the propagation of rice. This ecosystem showcases the interplay between coastal geography and local food production.
The Colorado River, which empties into Matagorda Bay, was historically responsible for flooding and drainage issues. In the 1920s, a massive dredging campaign was undertaken to address these problems. However, sediment deposited in the bay formed a tidal marsh that grew at 500 acres a year. This led to a change in the river's course in 1934 to bypass the bay, demonstrating the dynamic nature of coastal environments and human efforts to manage them.
A native of Denmark, Andrew Rasmussen (1858-1933) came to the United States at the age of 13 and began a maritime career that lasted for 60 years. Following the shipwreck of his schooner, the "Dorio and Doria," in 1885, Rasmussen joined Calhoun County's Saluria Life Saving Service, which had rescued his crew. By 1889, he was placed in charge of the station, which later became part of the U.S Coast Guard. Capt. Rasmussen and his wife, Theresa Amelia (Smith), built a home at this site in 1911. They are buried in the Port Lavaca Cemetery. (1985)
In 1909, the Calhoun County Cattle Company laid out a townsite on land that had been a part of a large ranch and settlement known as Alligator Head. Named Port O'Connor for Thomas O'Connor of Victoria, from whom the company had purchased the ranch land, the town began its development into a coastal resort and recreational area. Surrounded on three sides by bay waters, Port O'Connor attracted many visitors, particularly after the St. Louis, Brownsville and Mexico Railway built an excursion line to Port O'Connor in 1910. Hotels, service industries and other businesses formed to accommodate residents and visitors. Port O'Connor suffered heavy damage during the Gulf storm of 1919 but determined to rebuild. In 1927 a high demand for shrimp brought many shrimpers to the area, which helped spur Port O'Connor's development after the storm. In 1939, the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway linked Port O'Connor to Corpus Christi and New Orleans via the inland water channel, further developing its accessibility and opportunities for economic growth. Port O'Connor suffered a severe setback in 1961, when Hurricane Carla destroyed 90 per cent of the town, leveling the five-block central business district. Determined to carry on, residents rebuilt their town. Port O'Connor's proximity to the Matagorda Island air field helped reestablish it as a viable community. During the latter half of the 20th century, Port O'Connor became well known for its fishing, hunting and water sport opportunities. By the year 2000, it boasted 2000 permanent residents.	(2001) Incising on back: Erected by Calhoun County Historical Commission, George Fred Rhodes, chairman
Late in the 19th century, a small settlement named Alligator Head, named for its particular landscape, developed on the coast of Matagorda bay in Calhoun County. In 1910, the Calhoun County Cattle Company filed a plat for a town site and named it Port O’Connor in honor of tom m. O’Connor of Victoria from whom the land was purchased. With the establishment of the town, a cemetery site was needed for the rapidly growing community. The first known burial in the cemetery is that of Lola May McCarty in 1913. The oldest marked grave is that of Juan Pena (1851-1919) but it is highly likely that there are many unmarked graves. Located on the Texas coast, the cemetery is subject to the harsh effects of the elements. The hurricanes of 1919, 1942 and 1945 swept the town of port O’Connor and damaged the cemetery. High winds and rain during these storms destroyed the cemetery and many grave markers were displaced. The cemetery is the final resting place for many key members of the community. Members of several lighthouse keeping families of the Matagorda Island lighthouse are buried here. Some graves from Saluria on Matagorda Island were reinterred here due to erosion. Arranged in an east to west formation, the gravestones are comprised of marble, wood, granite, plastic and concrete. Tombstone decorations include ships, anchors, shells and driftwood, reflecting the saltwater heritage of the town. This historic cemetery reflects the determination and survival spirit of port O’Connor.
The port of Indianola, on Matagorda Bay in Calhoun County, was founded in August 1846 as Indian Point by Sam Addison White and William M. Cook. In 1844 a stretch of beach near the point had been selected by Carl, Prince of Solms Braunfels , commissioner general of the Adelsverein , as the landing place for German immigrants bound for western Texas under the sponsorship of the society. The German landing area was referred to, briefly, as Karlshafen. One immigrant, Johann Schwartz, built the first house in the area in 1845. Indian Point became firmly established as a deep-water port during the Mexican War . For thirty years its army depot supplied frontier forts in western Texas. Anglo-American landowners in the area had the site surveyed in 1846 and began selling lots. The post office was opened in September 1847, and stagecoach service to the interior began in January 1848. Mrs. Angelina Belle Eberly , heroine of the Archives War in Austin, moved to Indian Point in 1848 and operated hotels there until her death in 1860. In February 1849 the name of the growing town was changed to Indianola. Indianola was the county seat of Calhoun County from 1852 to 1886. The town grew rapidly, expanding three miles down the beach to Powderhorn Bayou, following its selection by Charles Morgan as the Matagorda Bay terminus for his New York-based steamship line. In a short time, Indianola achieved the rank of the second port of Texas, a position it held until the catastrophic hurricane of September 16, 1875, devastated the low-lying city and caused great loss of life. Indianola was the eastern end of the southern Chihuahua Trail, the military road to San Antonio, Austin, and Chihuahua, Mexico, as well as the road to San Diego, the shortest overland route to the Pacific. It became the chief port through which European and American immigrants flowed into western Texas. In 1850 the United States Boundary Commission landed in Indianola, en route to El Paso del Norte to begin the survey of the boundary with Mexico, as required by the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo . The first newspaper in Indianola was the Bulletin , founded in 1852 by John Henry Brown . Other papers of the period were the Courier , the Times , and the Indianolan . The town was incorporated in 1853, the year in which City Hospital began operation. In 1856 and 1857 two shiploads of camels were landed at Indianola. Under the direction of Secretary of War Jefferson Davis, the animals were used in one of the most extraordinary experiments in the history of the department, the use of camels in the transportation of military supplies in the southwestern United States. Indianola was bombarded by Union gunboats on October 26, 1862, then occupied and looted. The Union forces withdrew the following month but returned in November 1863, seized the city again, and remained until 1864. The world's first shipment of mechanically refrigerated beef moved from Indianola to New Orleans on the Morgan steamship Agnes in July 1869, opening a new era in the transportation of perishable goods. Railroad service from Indianola to the interior began in 1871. With a population of more than 5,000, Indianola was at the peak of her prosperity when the 1875 hurricane struck. The town rebuilt on a smaller scale and then was almost obliterated by the hurricane of August 20, 1886, and the accompanying fire. By 1887 the site had been abandoned. See also INDIANOLA HURRICANES , INDIANOLA RAILROAD .
James L. Allen, the last messenger from the Alamo , son of Samuel and Mary (Lamme) Allen, was born in Kentucky on January 2, 1815, the eldest of seven children. His father, a veteran of the Indian wars, had served under Gen. William Henry Harrison. Allen was a student at Marion College, Missouri, when he joined other students to volunteer for military service in Texas. He left the Alamo on courier duty on March 5, 1836, the night before the battle of the Alamo took place. He served at San Jacinto as a scout under Erastus (Deaf) Smith and helped burn bridges behind Mexican lines to cut off their retreat. After the victory at San Jacinto, he returned to the United States, where he stayed for two years. He then settled in Texas, became a Texas Ranger, and served in the companies of Captain Ward and later Capt. Peter H. Bell . In July 1844 Allen took part in an Indian battle at Corpus Christi. In 1849 he settled in Indianola, where he dealt in the stock business and also served for a time as mayor and justice of the peace. In 1849 he married Federica M. Manchan; they raised seven children. At the outbreak of the Civil War , Allen was serving as tax assessor-collector of Calhoun County. He refused to take the oath of allegiance when Union soldiers took Indianola and was placed under guard on Saluria Island, from which he escaped by swimming to the mainland and going to Port Lavaca. In 1865 he moved to Hochheim, where he owned a farm of 260 acres. He was a Baptist and Mason. He died at his home, five miles west of Yoakum, on April 25, 1901. There was a James B. Allen at the siege of Bexar , and in June 1836 a James C. Allen of Kentucky arrived in Texas as captain and commanding officer of the Buckeye Rangers. Another James C. Allen , also born in Kentucky, came to Texas from New York and participated in the Texas Revolution . Historians have confused James L. Allen with the James C. Allens and perhaps also with James B. Allen.
Picture this: its 1856 and a US Navy ship pulls into a sleepy Texas port carrying 34 camels. Secretary of War Jefferson Davis had this wild idea that camels…
Indianola had barely clawed its way back from the 1875 hurricane when on August 20 1886 a Category 4 monster roared ashore and flattened every single building…
On September 15 1875 the people of Indianola woke to darkening skies and a rising tide that would not stop. By nightfall a monster hurricane had driven the sea…
In 1685 French explorer La Salle was supposed to find the mouth of the Mississippi River and claim it for France. Instead he overshot by roughly 400 miles and…
In July 1867 a merchant vessel from Vera Cruz tied up at Indianola carrying more than cargo in its hold. Within days the first cases of yellow fever appeared…
In 1844 a young German prince named Carl of Solms-Braunfels pointed at a map of the Texas coast and declared Indianola the front door for a bold colonization…
On the morning of October 26 1862 residents of Indianola looked out at Matagorda Bay and saw Union gunboats bearing down on them with cannons run out. The…
Fort Esperanza sat on Matagorda Island guarding the pass that controlled all shipping into Indianola and it was the last thing standing between Federal forces…
122 stories, landmarks & places within ~20 miles — the same local lore RoadyGoat plays as you drive through.
You're driving through Port O'Connor, a town that owes its existence to a cattle ranch and a railroad. Laid out in 1909 by the Calhoun Cattle Company on the vast Alligator Head Ranch, it was named for cattle baron…
A native of Denmark, Andrew Rasmussen (1858-1933) came to the United States at the age of 13 and began a maritime career that lasted for 60 years. Following the shipwreck of his schooner, the "Dorio and Doria," in 1885,…
In 1909, the Calhoun County Cattle Company laid out a townsite on land that had been a part of a large ranch and settlement known as Alligator Head. Named Port O'Connor for Thomas O'Connor of Victoria, from whom the…
Matagorda Bay, a large Gulf of Mexico bay on the Texas coast, is one of seven major estuaries along the Gulf Coast of Texas. It serves as the mouth of numerous streams, most notably the Lavaca and Colorado Rivers. The…
Late in the 19th century, a small settlement named Alligator Head, named for its particular landscape, developed on the coast of Matagorda bay in Calhoun County. In 1910, the Calhoun County Cattle Company filed a plat…
On September 15, 1875, a powerful hurricane struck Indianola, killing between 150 and 300 people and almost destroying the town. This devastating event was a turning point in the town's history, as it was rebuilt only…
Picture this: its 1856 and a US Navy ship pulls into a sleepy Texas port carrying 34 camels. Secretary of War Jefferson Davis had this wild idea that camels…
You're driving past the site of Ed Bell's Fish Camp near Indianola. Born in <say-as interpret-as="date" format="y">1905</say-as> near Leakey, Ed Bell and his wife Mary Alma settled here along Powderhorn Bayou. But Bell…
In 1685 French explorer La Salle was supposed to find the mouth of the Mississippi River and claim it for France. Instead he overshot by roughly 400 miles and…
You're driving past the forgotten shores of Indianola, once a vital Texas port. Founded in 1844 by German immigrants and first called Karlshaven, this town was a bustling hub, connecting Texas and Mexico with ships and…
You're driving past the historic Chihuahua Road, a vital trade route connecting the booming port of Indianola to the silver mines of Chihuahua City, Mexico. Between 1844 and 1887, hundreds of wagons traveled this path,…
Before the hurricanes erased it, Indianola was the front door to German and Czech Texas. In the 1840s, a society of German noblemen called the Adelsverein hatched a plan to relocate thousands of their countrymen to a…
Two hurricanes erased a city from the map. Indianola was once the second-largest port in Texas, a booming gateway for German immigrants heading to the Hill Country and the terminus for camel caravans in the U.S. Army's…
Indianola had barely clawed its way back from the 1875 hurricane when on August 20 1886 a Category 4 monster roared ashore and flattened every single building…
You're driving past the site where Sergeant William Henry Barnes is honored. He joined the Union Army in 1864 and fought in the Battle of New Market Heights, earning the Medal of Honor. Later, stationed along the Texas…
In 1844 a young German prince named Carl of Solms-Braunfels pointed at a map of the Texas coast and declared Indianola the front door for a bold colonization…
In July 1867 a merchant vessel from Vera Cruz tied up at Indianola carrying more than cargo in its hold. Within days the first cases of yellow fever appeared…
On the morning of October 26 1862 residents of Indianola looked out at Matagorda Bay and saw Union gunboats bearing down on them with cannons run out. The…
Fort Esperanza sat on Matagorda Island guarding the pass that controlled all shipping into Indianola and it was the last thing standing between Federal forces…
On September 15 1875 the people of Indianola woke to darkening skies and a rising tide that would not stop. By nightfall a monster hurricane had driven the sea…
You're driving past Indianola Cemetery, a resting place that tells the story of a vanished Texas port. Many of the earliest graves here belong to victims of the deadly cholera and yellow fever epidemics that ravaged the…
Most people picture ghost towns as dusty streets and tumbleweeds but Indianolas ghost town sits under the waters of Matagorda Bay. After two catastrophic…
Steamship tycoon Charles Morgan was tired of paying port fees at Lavaca so in 1849 he did what any self-respecting robber baron would do: he built his own…
You're driving past the site of Indianola, a Texas port that saw it all. Spanish explorer Pineda charted this coast way back in 1519, and La Salle tried to plant a settlement nearby in 1685. From 1844 to 1875, it was a…
You're driving past the waters of Matagorda Bay, the very place where French explorer Robert de La Salle landed in 1685. Born in France, he dreamed big, leading expeditions across North America. In 1684, he sailed from…
On May 14, 1856, thirty-four camels walked off a Navy supply ship onto the docks at Indianola, Texas, and the locals had never seen anything like it. Secretary of War Jefferson Davis had convinced Congress to fund an…
There's almost nothing here now, and that's the story. Indianola was once the second-largest port in Texas, a booming gateway for immigrants, cattle, and commerce on Matagorda Bay. In the 1850s, the U.S. Army imported…
You're driving past the site of Indianola, where Angelina Eberly lived out her days. Born in Tennessee around 1800, she came to Texas in 1822 and operated an inn in San Felipe. After her first husband died, she married…
You're driving past Indianola, a place that welcomed some of the most unusual immigrants Texas has ever seen: camels! Starting in 1856, dozens of these desert dwellers arrived from North Africa and the Middle East,…
You're cruising past Old Town Cemetery, a final resting place for some of Calhoun County's earliest settlers. Many of these folks arrived in the 1840s, part of the first big wave of German immigrants to Texas. The…
You're driving past the site of what was once Indianola, a Texas port town that rose and fell with the hurricanes. And right here, we remember Judge Henry Joseph Huck. Born in Germany in 1882, he arrived in Texas in…
The port of Indianola, on Matagorda Bay in Calhoun County, was founded in August 1846 as Indian Point by Sam Addison White and William M. Cook. In 1844 a stretch of beach near the point had been selected by Carl, Prince…
James L. Allen, the last messenger from the Alamo , son of Samuel and Mary (Lamme) Allen, was born in Kentucky on January 2, 1815, the eldest of seven children. His father, a veteran of the Indian wars, had served under…
You're driving through Calhoun County, not far from where Alexander Somervell met his mysterious end. Somervell was a Texas Revolution veteran and a respected leader, but his final moments were tragic. In 1842, he led…
Linnville was on Lavaca Bay twenty miles from Victoria at a site then in Victoria County and now in Calhoun County. It was one of the most important ports of entry during the early period of the Republic of Texas . The…
You're driving through East Texas, perhaps near San Augustine, where Alanson Wyllys Canfield made his mark. Born in Connecticut, Canfield came to Texas in 1836, settling in Milam before moving to San Augustine. He was a…
You're driving through Calhoun County, near the historic port of Indianola. Back in 1858, this town was all about commerce, and they chartered the Indianola Railroad to connect their bustling port to the San Antonio and…
You're driving along the Texas coast, and right here is Matagorda Island, a fifty-mile-long barrier that’s seen more than its share of storms and conflict. Spanish explorer Alonso Álvarez de Pineda likely first spotted…
You're driving along the coast of Calhoun County, and right here is Matagorda Island. For most of its history, this place was just undeveloped coastline, but during World War II, it became a military training ground.…
You're driving through Calhoun County, maybe even past the shores of Matagorda Island, where the town of Saluria once stood. Right here, in the mid-1800s, lived George Berham Parr. He fought in the Mexican War, saw…
Olivia is near the junction of State highways 172 and 159, fourteen miles east of Port Lavaca in eastern Calhoun County. It is on a peninsula that is bound on the west by Kellers Bay, on the south by Matagorda Bay, and…
Saluria was on the eastern end of Matagorda Island in southern Calhoun County. The town was projected by James Power with associates Alexander Somervell and Milford P. Norton . On March 17, 1847, Power deeded the…
You're driving through Calhoun County, near where the town of Lavaca used to be a hub for George Preston Finlay. He was a lawyer and legislator who answered the call to fight for the Confederacy. Finlay raised a company…
You're driving through Calhoun County, near where William Polk Milby tried to build a town called Cayloma. He was a Texas congressman and merchant who came to Texas around 1841. After serving in the Republic's Congress…
You're driving through what was once Calhoun County, a place where Irish immigrant Daniel Shea found his calling during the Civil War. Born in Ireland in 1831, Shea came to Texas and worked the shipping industry before…
Six Mile, formerly known as Marekville and as Royal, is on Farm Road 1090 six miles north of Port Lavaca in northern Calhoun County. It is situated on land that was originally granted to Valentine Garcia. The community…
You're driving through Calhoun County, Texas, where Edward Beaumont settled with his family back in the 1840s. Beaumont became a Confederate captain during the Civil War, leading men in battles like Mansfield and…
Long Mott is a community just south of the junction of State Highway 185 and Farm Road 2235 in western Calhoun County. The site was settled by German immigrants in 1853. The first settlements were on the shore of San…
You're driving past Zimmerman Cemetery, a final resting place for some fascinating early Texans. The oldest marked grave here is from 1852, but the story gets wilder: John Gonzales arrived in 1858 to help care for a…
The name Magnolia Beach is not just a name; it's a reflection of the area's natural beauty. The word 'Magnolia' was added to the beach name to evoke the elegance of the setting, as magnolias are native to the region.…
You're driving along Lavaca Bay in Calhoun County, right near Magnolia Beach. Back in the late 1800s, some Northern businessmen thought they'd found paradise, trying to sell land to settlers. That didn't quite pan out.…
In 1684, the French explorer Rene-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle, sailed from France with four ships and three hundred colonists to establish a French colony at the mouth of the Mississippi River. He missed the…
You're driving through Olivia, a town founded in 1892 by Swedish immigrants. Reverend Carl Haterius advertised this new settlement to his countrymen in the Midwest, and twelve families answered the call. They built the…
You're driving through Olivia, a community founded by Swedish immigrants. In 1892, Reverend Carl Haterius bought land here, naming the settlement for his wife, Olivia. By 1893, he'd set aside this burial ground for the…
You're driving past Seadrift, where a heartbreaking epidemic swept through this community in 1912 and 1913. Thought to be measles, it claimed the lives of many infants, some of whom are buried here in unmarked graves.…
Out there, beneath the waters of Matagorda Bay, lay a treasure for over 300 years. In 1686, a small French ship named *La Belle*, part of an ill-fated expedition led by the explorer La Salle, was caught in a storm and…
As you look out at the calm waters of Lavaca Bay, imagine this scene: August 1840. The nearby port of Linnville is thriving. Suddenly, a war party of nearly 1,000 Comanche warriors appears, the largest ever seen in…
In September 1961, Port Lavaca faced a monster. Hurricane Carla, one of the most powerful storms in U.S. history, slammed into the Texas coast. While the eye passed just to the west, Port Lavaca was inundated by a…
When archaeologists found the 300-year-old wreck of the French ship *La Belle* in Matagorda Bay in 1995, they faced a huge engineering puzzle. How do you excavate a fragile wooden ship buried under 12 feet of water and…
In the late 1970s the bays around Port Lavaca became the stage for a painful conflict. The shrimping and crabbing trade here was under strain, and at the same time Vietnamese refugees who had fled after the war were…
Port Lavaca's history was significantly shaped by the Linnville Raid of 1840. The town of Linville was decimated by the Comanche tribe, leading former residents to settle in what is now Port Lavaca. Thomas McConnell…
If you head to the Bauer Community Center here in Port Lavaca you'll see something you would not expect. A lighthouse standing on dry land. A squat hexagonal cottage of wood, white with green trim, perched up on iron…
You're driving past the site of the Alice O. Wilkins School, a testament to a remarkable educator. Alice Ora Crawford arrived in Port Lavaca in 1907, a young woman of just 16 with a degree from Fisk University. Despite…
You're driving past the site of Saint Joseph Baptist Church in Port Lavaca. This congregation has roots stretching back to 1872, when Reverend John Nelson organized a Free Will Baptist Church in nearby Indianola. But…
You're driving past the site of the Battle of Norris Bridge, a rare Civil War engagement on the Texas coast. In December of 1863, around 40 Texas Rangers tried to burn this bridge to stop a Union advance. The Union…
You're driving past the Port Lavaca Cemetery, a resting place that saw its first burials in the 1840s. It holds a somber reminder of a devastating 1849 cholera epidemic, with several mass graves from that outbreak. This…
You're driving past Port Lavaca, where Wiley George settled in 1848. A veteran of the War of 1812, George fought for the Georgia militia before coming to Texas. He speculated in horses and died in 1862 with an estate…
You're driving past the site of old Port Lavaca, where Jefferson Beaumont served as Chief Justice of Calhoun County for eight years, from 1848 to 1856. He was born in Kentucky in 1801 and died here in Texas in 1865.…
You're driving past the site of Our Lady of the Gulf Catholic Church in Port Lavaca. The first mass was held here in 1857, with the first church building constructed in 1865. It was rebuilt in 1894 and later replaced by…
You're driving past the shores of Lavaca Bay, where in 1863, local inventor E. G. Singer tested a unique torpedo. With Confederate authority, Singer and others manufactured several types of underwater and land mine…
You're driving past the site of Mount Sinai Baptist Church, a cornerstone of the African American community in Calhoun County. Organized way back in 1870 in Indianola, it's one of the oldest black fellowships in the…
You're driving past the site of Grace Episcopal Church in Port Lavaca. Episcopal services were held here even before the 1850s, and the church was officially organized in 1853. It survived devastating yellow fever…
You're driving through Calhoun County, an area where hurricanes aren't just weather events, they're history shapers. Imagine entire towns like Indianola, a key Gulf seaport, wiped out by 19th-century storms. For…
You're driving past the heart of Port Lavaca, where Howard G. Hartzog, Sr. spent his life building this community. After playing pro football for the New York Giants, he returned to Port Lavaca, served fourteen years in…
You're driving past the shores of Calhoun County, a place that shifted from farming and fishing to a vital hub in World War II. After Pearl Harbor, much of the coastline was condemned for military use. Imagine the…
You're driving past Port Lavaca, a town that faced down the Union Navy during the Civil War. On October 31st, 1862, Union gunboats demanded surrender, but Confederate forces refused. After a brief evacuation, the ships…
You're driving past Lavaca Bay, a crucial stop for European immigrants in the 1840s. Land empresario Henri Castro contracted to bring colonists, many from Alsace, to Texas. They arrived here after Galveston, waiting for…
You're driving past Dr. Edward Fred Knipling. Prior to Dr. Knipling’s work, livestock production in North America was plagued by enormous losses each year due to infestations of cochliomyia hominivorax, commonly…
You're driving past Port Lavaca. Founded in the aftermath of a Comanche raid on the nearby settlement of Linville, the town of Lavaca ("the cow") was established in 1840. The busiest port in the Matagorda Bay area and a…
You're driving through Calhoun County, Texas, formed way back in <say-as interpret-as="date" format="y">1846</say-as>. It was carved out of parts of Jackson, Matagorda, and Victoria counties. The county was named for…
You're driving past the site of the Beach Hotel in Port Lavaca. Built in 1904 by C. U. Yancy, this hotel wasn't just a place to stay – it was the tallest building in town when it went up! Imagine special trains bringing…
You're driving past the historic route of the San Antonio & Mexican Gulf Railroad, chartered way back in 1850. San Antonio investors dreamed it would be a vital trade link to the Gulf. During the Civil War, Confederates…
Chartered in 1850, the San Antonio & Mexican Gulf Railroad was one of the first railroads in Texas. San Antonio investors hoped it would open trade from the Gulf. As the line was built westward from Port Lavaca, wagons…
In the late 1970s, this quiet fishing town became the center of a national drama. After the fall of Saigon, Vietnamese refugees began resettling in America. Many were fishermen, and they were drawn to the Gulf Coast,…
Seadrift is remembered for a tragic event that took place on August 3, 1979, which had significant racial undertones. The central area, heavily reliant on the commercial fishing industry, saw tensions rise between White…
As you look out over the waters of San Antonio Bay, you’re seeing more than just a pretty view. You’re looking at a complex natural engine that has powered Seadrift for over a century. This is an estuary, a special…
Edgar Collins Singer, Texas-based inventor of one of the first successful torpedoes or submarine mines and co-developer/promoter of the Confederate Navy submarine Hunley, was born in Ohio on October 21, 1825, to an…
In September 1961, Seadrift faced its greatest test. Hurricane Carla was a Category 4 and one of the largest storms ever to strike the Texas coast - so big that it forced what was then the biggest evacuation in American…
You're driving through what is now Calhoun County, but back in the late 1820s, this was the frontier. William Richardson Hensley arrived in Texas in 1828, settling near San Felipe and immediately taking to the wild…
You're driving past Port Lavaca, and right here, in February of 1861, a Presbyterian minister named Thaddeus McRae arrived. He quickly found himself in a bitter struggle, opposing Texas secession and the split within…
You're driving through Calhoun County, near where Port Lavaca sits. Right here, in 1873, a pivotal legal battle unfolded that would become known as the 'Semicolon Case.' Wesley B. Ogden, then Chief Justice of the Texas…
You're driving through Calhoun County, near Port Lavaca, where a battle for the future of Texas transportation played out. Back in the 1850s, getting goods from the coast inland was a nightmare. The San Antonio and…
You're driving past Port Lavaca, Texas, where back in 1867, a Scottish immigrant named John Ogilvie Stevenson arrived. He came all the way from Scotland, after working in coal mines and wool mills, to teach newly freed…
You're driving through Calhoun County, Texas, a place that played a small but fascinating role in the Civil War's naval innovation. Right here, Benjamin Augustus Whitney, a local merchant and businessman, became more…
You're driving through Port Lavaca, a town born from disaster. Back in 1840, the Linnville raid saw Comanches sweep through the region, burning Linnville just a few miles from here. Many survivors fled the destruction,…
Seadrift wasn't born a fishing town — it was born a real estate pitch. There was already a post office here by 1891 and about a hundred and twenty people by 1896, but everything changed on the fifteenth of May, 1911,…
You're driving through Calhoun County, near Port Lavaca, where Horace Haldeman joined the U.S. Army in late 1848. He'd just returned from service in the Mexican War, but his Texas adventure was just beginning. Haldeman…
You're driving through South Texas, maybe near Port Lavaca, where John D. Anderson first landed in February of 1835. He came with his father and brother from Virginia, settling in what was then the Republic of Texas.…
You're driving through Matagorda County, and right here, in the mid-1800s, a printer named James Attwell was shaping public opinion. He arrived in Texas shortly after the Revolution and quickly became a key figure in…
You're driving past Ranger Cemetery, a final resting place with a history as rugged as the Texas frontier. The oldest grave here belongs to Major H. Oram Watts, who died in a Comanche raid on Linnville back in <say-as…
You're driving through Port Lavaca, and you're passing the site of the First United Methodist Church. Organized way back in 1841 by Reverend Joseph P. Sneed, this congregation has faced down more than a few storms, both…
You're driving past the site of the First Baptist Church of Port Lavaca. Organized in 1854 as the Lavaca Baptist Church, this congregation faced hardships like the Civil War and yellow fever. They were chartered as the…
You're driving past the site of the Half Moon Reef Lighthouse, a beacon that guided ships through Matagorda Bay starting in 1858. This three-story lighthouse helped vessels trading in Port Lavaca and the now-vanished…
You're driving past the site of Port Lavaca's First Presbyterian Church. Services began around 1848, meeting in various locations, including a saloon and a warehouse. The congregation has continued serving the community…
You're driving past Cox's Point, a place that saw action during Texas's early days. This was a key landing spot for supplies heading inland. In <say-as interpret-as="date" format="y">1836</say-as>, the famed 'Red…
You're driving past Seadrift. Settlement here began in the 1840s when German immigrants disembarking at Indianola stayed in the vicinity. A post office was granted in 1888, its name inspired by debris that collected on…
As you drive through Point Comfort, you're looking at a piece of mid-century American history: the company town. Before 1950, this was empty coastal prairie. Then, the Aluminum Company of America, Alcoa, decided to…
When Formosa Plastics opened its own plant just east of Point Comfort in 1983, it promised jobs and economic growth. It delivered, growing into the county's largest employer. But it also brought a new kind of…
The massive industrial plant here was built for one of the most energy-intensive manufacturing processes on Earth: making aluminum. It started with bauxite, a reddish, clay-like ore shipped here in huge vessels. Inside…
Hurricane Carla was the storm that changed how America watches weather. When the Category 4 hurricane bore down on the Texas coast in September 1961, it was one of the largest storms ever recorded in the Gulf of Mexico,…
In August 1840, Chief Buffalo Hump led 400 Comanche warriors in retaliation for the Council House Fight, burning Victoria and sacking Linnville, the Republic's second-largest port.
Imagine being lost. Not just on a backroad - lost on an ocean. In 1685 the French explorer La Salle was hunting for the mouth of the Mississippi to claim it for France, and he overshot it by some four hundred miles,…
In September 1961, one of the most powerful storms in U.S. history took aim at the Texas coast: Hurricane Carla. As the Category 4 storm churned in the Gulf, it pushed a monstrous wall of water ahead of it. Here in…
Point Comfort is home to a controversial Formosa PVC plant, which has been the site of both a propylene explosion and large-scale waste violations. The plant has resulted in the largest citizen-led settlement of a Clean…
You're driving along San Antonio Bay, and right here is Seadrift. It started as a fishing and shipping point, named for debris that washed ashore, including wreckage from Indianola after that town was destroyed by a…
You're driving by the site of Salem Lutheran Church. Organized in 1902 by families like the Kemper and Knipling clans, the congregation held services in German until 1920. They dedicated their first house of worship in…
You're driving past Hatch Cemetery, a resting place for a pioneering Texas family. Captain Sylvanus Hatch, a War of 1812 veteran, established this cemetery in 1850 after his wife died of cholera while tending to sick…
You are standing on Linnville, and the reason you cannot see it is what happened here on August 8, 1840. Buffalo Hump had brought four to five hundred Comanche warriors three hundred miles from the Edwards Plateau to…
You're driving past the site of Linnville, a once-thriving Texas port named for pioneer merchant John Joseph Linn. He established a warehouse here in 1831, and a settlement quickly grew around it. But this bustling port…
You're driving past the resting place of Sylvanus Hatch, a man who lived an incredibly long life for his time. Born way back in Massachusetts in <say-as interpret-as="date" format="y">1788</say-as>, he saw nearly a…
You're driving past the site of Lavaca Lodge No. 36, the first Masonic lodge in Calhoun County, chartered way back in 1848. After a period of inactivity, the lodge reappeared in Port Lavaca in 1886, moving from…
You're driving past the site of the Port Lavaca Chapter No. 373 of the Order of The Eastern Star. It was established on May 10, 1907, with 13 charter members. A later member, Annie Leggett, went on to serve as Deputy…
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