Poteet, Texas

Everything Poteet is known for

79 songs mention this city 5 artists from here

Poteet, Texas, known as the "Strawberry Capital of Texas," is also connected to a notable musical heritage. This city, located in Atascosa County about 30 miles south of San Antonio, is home to several artists and is mentioned in numerous songs.

Country music legend George Strait was born in Poteet, and his songs like "Write This Down" and "The Chair" are part of the 60 songs in our collection that mention the town. Tejano music artist David Lee Garza also hails from Poteet, and his group, David Lee Garza y Los Musicales, has performed at the annual Poteet Strawberry Festival, which often features a mix of country and Tejano music.

Music in Poteet

Songs About Poteet

San Antone
Randy Rogers Band
53%
"There's a girl from down around Poteet"
Fit For The King
Kyle Park
50%
"Fit for the King"
tennessee drinkin'
william beckmann
45%
Crushin' It
Brad Paisley
45%
"But like the great George freakin Strait, I'm the king of getting unwound"
Damn Strait
Scotty McCreery
45%
"Every damn Strait song"
George Fucking Strait
Laci Kaye Booth
45%
"George fucking Strait"
God & George Strait
Rich O'Toole
45%
"God and George Strait"
Check Yes or No
george strait
45%
I Cross My Heart
george strait
45%
The Chair
george strait
45%
Write This Down
george strait
45%
Third Row George Strait
Frank Ray
42%
"Third row George Strait"
Damn Strait
Granger Smith
40%
"Every damn Strait song"
Give It To Me Strait
Tim McGraw
40%
"Just give it to me Strait"
Texas
Blake Shelton
18%
"George Strait said it Yeah, that's where all them exes go"
Easy Money Down in Texas
Ray Wylie Hubbard
8%
"Don't ever disrespect George Strait"
Last Time for Everything
Brad Paisley
8%
"Like a George Strait cassette in a Pontiac"
Real World
Big & Rich
8%
"I got more money than George Strait"
Alone In The Light
Kyle Park
8%
"I'll Two-step to Conway and waltz to The King"
Girls I Date
Mike Ryan
8%
"I ain't Merle Haggard and I ain't George Strait"

Showing top 20 of 79 songs

Artists From Poteet

G
George Strait
country Pop: 75
D
David Lee Garza
latin Pop: 44
D
David Lee Garza y Los Musicales
latin Pop: 15
B
Brad Jenschke
country Pop: 1
B
Brad Jenscke
country Pop: 1

Rivers & Roads in Song near Poteet

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

Interstate 35 42 songs Interstate 10 32 songs US Route 90 8 songs Chisholm Trail 7 songs Frio River 13 songs

History of Poteet

Where the King of Country Was Born RoadyGoat

Country music's reigning King got his start in this strawberry town. George Harvey Strait was born in Poteet on May 18, 1952, the son of John and Doris Strait, before the family settled in nearby Pearsall, where his father taught school and ran a ranch and George spent his boyhood working cattle on weekends and summers. That ranch upbringing, the horses, the dust, the quiet work, would later soak into the plainspoken honky-tonk and Western swing that made him a legend. Strait went on to score dozens of number-one singles and become one of the best-selling country artists ever, the unhurried, hat-tipping standard-bearer fans simply call the King of Country. He's far better known for Pearsall, where he was raised, but the birth record points right back here to Poteet, the little Atascosa County town that can rightly claim it was the first ground a future Country Music Hall of Famer ever stood on. Roll the windows down for this one; somewhere out in these fields is where the story of George Strait began. (Source: The Boot; Britannica.)

RoadyGoat →

How a Cotton Town Became the Strawberry Capital RoadyGoat

Poteet wasn't always berry country. For decades cotton ruled these fields, and the town stayed small until the railroad and the water changed everything. Storekeeper Henry Mumme discovered artesian wells here around 1904, and when the Artesian Belt Railroad pushed through in 1910 on land the Mumme family helped provide, Poteet suddenly had both irrigation water and a way to ship perishable crops. The real turn came in 1920, when Gustav Aigner moved to town and grew Missionary strawberries that thrived in the local sandy soil. Word spread fast, and the strawberry quickly became one of the town's signature crops, prized for ripening early and tasting sweet under the South Texas sun. The combination, artesian water, fine sandy loam, mild winters, and a rail line to market, turned a quiet cotton settlement into a place that would call itself the Strawberry Capital of Texas. Today only a few dozen growers remain, most farming small plots, but the identity they built a century ago still defines the town, its festival, and its water tower. (Source: Handbook of Texas; Texas Highways.)

RoadyGoat →

The Godfather of Tejano Started Here RoadyGoat

Poteet's musical roots run deeper than its one famous son. David Lee Garza, the accordionist and bandleader often called the Godfather of Tejano, was born here on February 15, 1957. He picked up the accordion at age seven under his father's guidance and formed his first conjunto group by eleven, with his brothers backing him on bass and drums. Out of that family band grew David Lee Garza y Los Musicales, a Grammy-winning powerhouse that blended conjunto, Tex-Mex, and country into music built for the dance floor. Beyond his own hits, Garza became a launching pad for a generation of Tejano stars, giving early breaks to vocalists like Emilio Navaira, Ram Herrera, and Jay Perez before they fronted their own bands. In a town better known nationally for George Strait and strawberries, Garza is the local hero who carried this community's heavily Tejano culture onto stages across Texas and beyond. The accordion squeeze that powered decades of South Texas dance halls first got its wind in Poteet. (Source: Wikipedia; David Lee Garza y Los Musicales.)

RoadyGoat →

Poteet, TX

1904

Poteet is on Farm Road 476 and State Highway 16, twenty miles south of San Antonio in north central Atascosa County. It was named for its first postmaster, Francis Marion Poteet, who operated the post office out of his blacksmith shop beginning in 1886. The town had a cotton gin, a gristmill, and a wagonmaker in 1892. In 1896 Mr. and Mrs. Henry T. Mumme settled in the area, on land that had been part of the original Joaquín de la Garza land grant, and opened a general store. Mumme succeeded Poteet as postmaster and in 1904 found artesian wells in the area; this ready source of water made the location more attractive to farmers. Apparently his discovery was prompted by a drought in 1902 that ruined that year's cotton crop. The Poteet community did not really begin to grow until 1910, when the Artesian Belt Railroad passed nearby on land donated by the Mummes. In 1910 the Mummes also donated land for the new townsite, three miles southwest of the original post office, and built a new store there. In 1918, Mumme fortuitously met Gustav Aigner, an experienced strawberry farmer, at the San Antonio Produce Market. Two years later Aigner relocated his family to Poteet, where he successfully grew Missionary Strawberries, which rapidly became one of the town's major crops and its claim to fame. The town became known as the "Strawberry Capital," where tourists could view a water tower resembling a strawberry, as well as the six-foot-tall and 1,600 pound "World's Largest Strawberry." A three-day strawberry festival began in Poteet in 1948, in which Harold A. Aigner served as the festival king. The strawberry festival is still held annually. Also in 1911 Mumme established the Poteet Coal and Sand Company Mine, but water seeped into the shaft in 1912, making the mining process prohibitively expensive. The town continued to be a center of commerce for area farmers, whose major source of income was the irrigation farming of peanuts, onions, and watermelons, in addition to the famous strawberries. In 1914 Poteet had a population of 500, a Baptist and a Methodist church, several stores, two banks, two blacksmith shops, a hotel, the Poteet Light and Water Company, and a weekly newspaper (the Poteet Register ). At that time the community also had processing facilities for lumber, grain, and cotton. Local school enrollment was 276. By 1926 the population had increased to 800; it topped 1,000 by the 1930s, when Poteet for a time had forty rated businesses. The Poteet Independent School System had 638 students and fourteen teachers in 1934. During the 1940s oil was discovered near Poteet, and its population rose to 2,315. In the 1950s the number of residents increased slowly, and insufficient water again became a problem. Decreasing water levels in the Carrizo strata have continued to trouble Poteet, but the number of residents stabilized at around 3,000 beginning in the 1970s, then reached a high of 3,519 in 1988. Poteet is an incorporated city with a mayor-alderman form of government. In 1990 its population was 3,206. In addition to its fame as the "Strawberry City," Poteet achieved nationwide recognition in the 1950s when Milton Caniff, author of the "Steve Canyon" comic strip, named one of his characters after the town. The population was 3,305 in 2000.

Tsha Handbook →

Battle of Medina

1813

Texas' bloodiest military engagement -- the Battle of Medina -- may have taken place in this general vicinity in 1813. The early 19th century was a time of political upheaval, and in 1812, while the U.S. was at war with England, Spain faced revolts throughout Latin America, including Mexico. In this revolutionary climate, Americans and others began efforts to influence the fate of Mexico, of which Texas was a province. Bernardo Gutiérrez and Lt. A.W. Magee marched from Louisiana to Texas in 1812 with their Republican Army of the North. Capturing Nacogdoches and Trinidad, they moved on to Presidio La Bahía, where they survived a four-month siege by Spanish governors and their Royalist forces. The Royalists retreated toward San Antonio in February 1813, and in March the Republican Army followed them and was ambushed in the Battle of Rosillo. The Republicans persevered, captured San Antonio and executed the Spanish governors. Gutiérrez's new Republic of Texas, with its green flag, was marked by internal political problems. Spain sent troops under Gen. Joaquín de Arredondo to retake Texas. Among his men was Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, later Mexico's leader during the Texas Revolution. The Republicans marched from San Antonio on Aug. 15, 1813 with about 1,400 troops: American volunteers, Tejanos, Mexicans and Native Americans. Led across the plains south of the Medina River, the fatigued army faced Spanish troops on Aug. 18 and was soundly defeated. Fewer than 100 escaped; most were executed. The Spanish left the decimated Texans on the battlefield and proceeded to San Antonio to punish citizens who supported independence. Eight years later, Mexican leaders ordered the remains of the fallen soldiers to be buried under an oak tree on the battlefield. Although the exact site of the battle has yet to be determined archeologically, the story remains an important part of Texas history. (2005)

Historical Marker → · 4.8 mi away

Long, Hubert

1958

Hubert Long, country music promoter and talent agent, was born in Poteet, Texas, on December 3, 1923. He grew up in Freer and Corpus Christi. He worked in the record department of a Corpus Christi dime store and entered the production end of the music industry when he took a job at Decca Records in San Antonio. Long followed his Decca boss to RCA Victor in Houston, where he met music promoter Col. Tom Parker. Parker put Long in charge of publicity for Eddy Arnold, whom Long is credited with having promoted to superstardom. This marked the real beginning of Long's career as a music promoter. He came into his own professionally in the early 1950s when, as manager of the Louisiana Hayride , he signed Faron Young and Webb Pierce to management contracts. Long founded the Hubert Long Agency in 1952. He further increased his influence as a talent agent when he founded the independent talent agency Stable of Stars in 1955. Over the course of his career, he expanded his interests to include advertising, real estate, and the famous Moss Rose music publishing house, among other ventures. Country music suffered in 1958, as rock-and-roll began to compete with it. Long and others sought to strengthen country music's presence in the commercial music market. On August 14, 1958, Long took part in a meeting that led to the chartering of the Country Music Association, an organization devoted to the promotion of country music. The CMA replaced the floundering Country Music Disc Jockey Association as the only non-profit group working to advance country music. Long served as secretary when the CMA opened in Nashville on December 8, 1958. He went on to serve as president of the CMA in 1968 and as chairman in 1972. Since its charter in 1958, the CMA has grown from 233 members to more than 6,000 in forty-three countries. Whether he managed them, sold their songs, promoted their shows, or fought for them through the CMA, Hubert Long touched the lives of countless country musicians. He died on September 7, 1972. The CMA posthumously elected him into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1979.

Tsha Handbook →

Poteet

1880

The town of Poteet traces its history to the 1880s, when Francis Marion Poteet (1833-1907) established a mercantile store northeast of this area. A blacksmith and farmer as well as a merchant, Poteet began providing mail service to his customers. Poteet sold his business to Henry T. Mumme (1870-1947) before 1900. Mumme continued to offer postal service at the store, and in 1910 he and his wife Ida (1869-1942) donated 400 acres of land for a new townsite. Since the area had been referred to as Poteet as a result of the early mail service, the new town was named in honor of Francis Marion Poteet. Mumme moved his store to the new townsite in 1911. Mumme drilled the town's first artesian water well and is credited with introducing the cultivation of strawberries here. The artesian water, together with the sandy soil of the region, proved ideal for growing the berries. Known statewide for its superior quality strawberries, Poteet has been nicknamed the "Strawberry Capital of Texas." The town grew steadily after 1910, with the establishment of schools, churches, homes, and businesses. It was incorporated in 1926. (1989)

Historical Marker →

Amphion and Amphion Cemetery

1857

Amphion traces its beginning to the establishment of Atascosa County's first courthouse which is believed to have been constructed near this site at the county seat of Navatasco in 1857. Amphion, thought to have been named after a figure in Greek mythology, was located within the 17,000-acre ranch of Jose Antonio Navarro, a prominent local rancher and signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence. Amphion was at one time a thriving community with several general stores, a hotel, post office, blacksmith shop, cotton gin, tannery, churches, fraternal lodges and a school. Amphion Cemetery was established about 1870 at this site on land donated by Roy Jenkins and Frank Lozano. Although the earliest recorded gravesite is that of Laura Underwood (d.1891) there is a gravestone with the year 1800 inscribed on its surface that local tradition claims marks the grave of a young boy killed by indians. This cemetery contains the graves of at least two veterans of the American Civil War. When railroad lines were built through Atascosa County in 1907 and 1927 along routes that bypassed Amphion, business activity declined and the community eventually dissolved. Virtually all that remains of the former town of Amphion is this cemetery. (1992)

Historical Marker → · 4.8 mi away

Pleasanton, TX

1858

Pleasanton is at the intersections of Farm Roads 476, 5350, 1334 and U.S. Highway 281, five miles northeast of Jourdanton in northeast Atascosa County. It was founded in 1858, when conflicts with Indians caused the settlers to move the location of the county seat from Amphion. The mouth of Bonita Creek seemed the perfect location for the new seat, so the county residents voted this area as the official townsite. John Bowen, who later named the town after early settler John Pleasant, donated five square miles of land for development. E. B. Thomas, the first settler, opened the first general store in Pleasanton. In 1860 Pleasanton became county school district number 1, with W. J. Pepham as the first teacher. By 1861 the town had a dozen families, two blacksmiths, and three lawyers. A log cabin served as the courthouse for nine years. After the new courthouse was built by William Guynes, the log cabin was rented to the school district until 1875, when a rock schoolhouse was built. The old courthouse also served as a church at one time. By the early twentieth century Pleasanton, had two newspapers, the Pleasanton Picayune , which became the Pleasanton Express in 1909, and the Pleasanton Reporter . Although Jourdanton became the county seat in 1910, Pleasanton continued to grow. In 1912 the Missouri Pacific Railroad linked the town to San Antonio, and in 1914 Pleasanton became connected by railroad to Corpus Christi. At this time the population was 1,500. In 1917 the town was officially incorporated. Pleasanton profited from the thriving cattle industry of the area and became a gathering place for cowboys driving cattle to Kansas. The Stock Raisers Association of Western Texas often held meetings or conventions in the town. By the 1940s the population reached 2,074; it had increased by another 1,000 by the 1960s. In 1966 the "Cowboy Homecoming" was begun in Pleasanton. Since many locals claimed the town was the birthplace of the cowboy, they decided to commemorate the tradition officially. The festival, which occurs annually in August, has cook-offs, fiddler contests, and carnivals in tribute to the cattle industry. Other important industries of the area are peanuts and petroleum. The population of Pleasanton was 6,091 in 1980 and 8,042 in 1994. In 1989 the town adopted a manager-council government. Pleasanton has four state historical markers: the Cooper Chapter 101 of the Masons was recognized in 1971, the town was honored with a marker on the city hall grounds in 1973, and in 1984 the First United Methodist Church and the old site of the San Augustine Church received plaques. The population was 8,266 in 2000.

Tsha Handbook → · 7.2 mi away

Things to Do in Poteet

historical 22.7 mi away
Mission San José

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Donkey Lady Bridge

A disfigured woman with melted fingers resembling hooves is said to haunt this bridge over Elm Creek south of San Antonio. Visitors report screaming and…

Everything Near Poteet

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

Explore Poteet on the Map
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