Yoakum, Texas

Everything Yoakum is known for

1 song mention this city 1 artist from here

Music in Yoakum

Songs About Yoakum

Yoakum Texas Blues
Lucius Parr
60%

Artists From Yoakum

D
Dawson DeBord
country

Rivers & Roads in Song near Yoakum

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

Guadalupe River 17 songs US Route 90 9 songs Interstate 10 36 songs U.S. Route 59 9 songs Texas Colorado River 6 songs Texas State Highway 71 2 songs

History of Yoakum

One Company Gave Yoakum Water, Light and Ice RoadyGoat

Yoakum was a railroad camp that turned into a town very fast, and in 1892 one man decided it should have the three things a town needs to stop being a camp. James G. Blanks organized the Blanks Ice, Water and Power Company and built waterworks, an electric light plant and an ice factory. The plant cost forty two thousand dollars against fifty thousand in capital stock, and by the time the light plant was folded in, the whole thing came to fifty five thousand. Think about what that buys in a place like this in the eighteen nineties. Water that arrives in a pipe instead of a bucket. A street you can walk down after dark. And ice, in south Texas, in July, which changes what you can eat and how long meat keeps. He was thirty when he started it.

RoadyGoat →

The Gulf Ran Him Off and Yoakum Got a Store RoadyGoat

H. Mylius spent sixteen years as a sailor before he ever sold anything. He captained the mail boat between Matagorda and Indianola and Saluria, twice a week for five years. In the war he was put on a gunboat in Matagorda Bay, then on the steamer Camargo running the blockade to Matamoros, and that is where he was standing when word came that Lee had surrendered. The Federals took his sloop, used it a while, and burned it. He built another, worked the oyster trade, and finally opened a grocery and ship chandlery at Indianola. Then the great storm of 1886 destroyed his property, and Indianola as a port was finished. He tried Galveston for a year and Cuero for seven months, and in 1887 he came to Yoakum and opened the second dry goods store in town. His was the third business house built on Grand Avenue. Some of this town was built by people the coast threw inland.

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She Was Born Here and Built the Alley RoadyGoat

Nina Eloise Whittington was born in Yoakum on the twenty second of October, 1914, the only child of Calvin and Minerva Whittington. Her mother was a DeWitt, and she came down from Green DeWitt, the empresario whose colony covered this exact stretch of country. She took a theatre degree at TCU, moved to Houston in 1939, and taught drama in high schools there. Then in 1947 she did the thing she is remembered for. She mailed out more than two hundred postcards asking whether Houston wanted a theatre company. Enough people turned up that they went ahead, in a dance studio you reached by walking down a long alleyway, and somebody suggested they call themselves the Alley. She ran it for thirty three years, directed over a hundred productions, and turned it into one of the most respected resident theatres in the country. She died in 1980 and is buried at Gonzales, which is Green DeWitt's own town. She started in his colony and she went back to it.

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Knickerbocker, Hubert Renfro

1923

Hubert Renfro Knickerbocker, writer, was born in Yoakum, Texas, on January 31, 1898, the son of Rev. Hubert Delancey and Julia Catherine (Opdenweyer) Knickerbocker. After graduation from Southwestern University in 1917 he served briefly with the United States Army on the Mexican border and then delivered milk in Austin. In 1919 he went to Columbia University to study psychiatry. His career in journalism began in 1920, when he became a reporter for the Newark, New Jersey, Morning Ledger ; in 1922 he reported for the New York Evening Post and the New York Sun , then returned to Texas as journalism department chairman at Southern Methodist University for the 1922–23 term. He went to Munich, Germany, with the intention of studying psychiatry, but historic events and his reporter's instinct intervened. He was a witness to the Beer Hall Putsch of Adolph Hitler on November 8–9, 1923. Shortly afterward he became assistant Berlin correspondent for the New York Evening Post and the Philadelphia Public Ledger . He became chief Berlin correspondent for these two newspapers in 1928 and continued in that capacity until 1941. His friends told the story that he secured his promotion by introducing his predecessor, Dorothy Thompson, to Sinclair Lewis and by promoting their subsequent romance and marriage. From 1925 to 1941 Knickerbocker was also a European correspondent for International News Service. From 1923 to 1933 he based his activities in Berlin. Only from 1925 to 1927 did he divide his time between Berlin and Moscow, where he reported for INS. In Germany he published six books in German and wrote columns in two major German newspapers, the Vossische Zeitung and the Berliner Tageblatt . He circulated in highest German political, social, and cultural circles. His critical views on Soviet economy and foreign affairs were generally well received in Germany, especially his Der rote Handel lockt (1931), which was published in English as The Red Trade Menace (1931). In 1931 Knickerbocker won the Pulitzer Prize for his articles describing and analyzing the Soviet Five-Year Plan. His strong opposition to Hitler and the Nazi movement, however, made his position difficult when Hitler became a major political figure in 1932. With the Nazi takeover in 1933, Knickerbocker was deported and forced to report on Germany from beyond the frontiers of the Third Reich. In 1933 he made an extensive research tour of Europe, on which he interviewed hundreds of public figures and many heads of state, asking the question beginning to trouble most Europeans and some Americans: "Will war come to Europe?" In his book Will War Come to Europe? (1934) he forecast a general European war. He spent the rest of his life witnessing, reporting, and interpreting the events foreshadowing the World War II . He covered the Italo-Abyssinian War in 1935–36, the Spanish Civil War in 1936–37, the early phases of the Sino-Japanese War in 1937, the Anschluss and the Czech crisis in 1938, the defeat of France in 1940, and the battle of Britain in 1940. In March and April 1940 Knickerbocker devoted himself to the American lecture circuit, strongly urging American support of the war against the Axis powers. Repeatedly in late 1940 and in 1941 he toured the United States declaring that "we should go into war today." On April 24, 1941, he spoke on the University of Texas campus, and on November 20, 1941, after a speech at Southern Methodist University, he exchanged heated remarks with students who opposed United States entry into the war. Knickerbocker summed up his views in the book Is Tomorrow Hitler's? (1941). In 1941 he went to work for the Chicago Sun as its chief foreign correspondent in the Far East and South Pacific. In 1942 he followed Allied troops into North Africa, reporting for the Sun and acting as the official correspondent for the First Division of the United States Army. During the remainder of the war he reported from the European theater of military operations. After th

Tsha Handbook →

Prosser, Inez Beverly

1933

Inez Beverly Prosser, teacher and administrator and one of the first black women to receive a Ph.D. in the United States, the oldest daughter of eleven children of Samuel Andrew and Veola (Hamilton) Beverly, was born in Yoakum, Texas, in 1897. She was the valedictorian of her class both in high school and college. In 1912 she graduated from Yoakum Colored High School, where she later taught for a brief period. After receiving a degree in teacher training from Prairie View Normal College, she accepted a teaching position in Austin, where she graduated with distinction from Samuel Huston College with a major in education. She married Texan Rufus A. Prosser. Enabled by the award of a General Education Board Fellowship in 1934, she obtained a master of arts degree in educational psychology from the University of Colorado. While teaching education at Tillotson College, she was recognized as an excellent teacher and leader. In 1929–30 she coordinated a series of lectures that featured a visit by George Washington Carver. She served as the dean and registrar from 1921 to 1930, when she accepted a teaching and administrative position at Tougaloo College in Tougaloo, Mississippi. She received a Ph.D. in educational psychology from the University of Cincinnati in 1933. Her dissertation, The Non-Academic Development of Negro Children in Mixed and Segregated Schools, was one of the earliest treatises on the social domain of elementary school children. Inez Prosser was a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha and the African Methodist Episcopal Church . She established a fund to enable her sisters and brothers to obtain a college education. All of them completed high school, and six of them completed college. In 1934 she was killed in an automobile collision near Shreveport, Louisiana. In recognition of her contribution to Texas culture, she was recognized at HemisFair `68 in San Antonio.

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Katolika Jednota Zen Texaskych (K.J.Z.T.)

1894

Czech families came to Texas in the 1800s and bought farms where women worked equally with men to clear land and plant and harvest crops. Despite their efforts, life insurance companies would not sell policies to women, citing uncertain income and lack of credit or savings. At the same time, funeral costs and other hardships added to families' difficulties in times of illness or death. To help alleviate these burdens, in 1894, Anna (Migl) Jakubik (1853-1946) and Marie Yurek (Jurek) (1860-1950) of Yoakum founded Katolika Jednota Zen Texaskych (K.J.Z.T.), or Catholic Women's Union of Texas. Jakubik and Yurek approached Rev. Francis Just for help in forming a mutual aid society for the Czech women of St. Joseph's Parish. Ten women gathered at the first meeting and the organization quickly grew to include multiple affiliated groups across the state. By 1917, there were 60 societies in Texas with more than 8,000 members.
 The organization initially formed to aid families during times of death. However, the K.J.Z.T. transformed into a successful financial institution providing life insurance, loans, mortgages, scholarships and community service. From the beginning, the K.J.Z.T. exclusively employed women to oversee and operate its business, giving Texas women professional and career opportunities and training. The statewide group also printed a sizeable weekly newspaper, Novy Domov (New Home), published in Hallettsville by Anna Jakubik and her husband, Frantisek. The full-size newspaper printed in the Czech language included hard news, unusual among women's publications of the time. Novy Domov later merged with the newspaper Katolik to become the K.J.Z.T. News. From origins as a small aid society, the K.J.Z.T. grew to become and influential organization with thousands of members. (2019)

Historical Marker →

Daily, Harold W. [Pappy]

1933

Harold Westcott (Pappy) Daily, record producer, music publisher, and promoter of Texas music, was born in Yoakum, Texas, on February 8, 1902. His father died when Daily was still a child. His mother soon remarried and moved the family to Houston. At age sixteen he left Central High School to join the Marine Corps. Discharged after two years, he began working for the Southern Pacific Railroad. Around the same time he began playing baseball. From the mid 1920s until 1931, he dabbled in baseball management and even launched a new baseball team called the Freeport Tarpons. When the Great Depression forced the Southern Pacific to lay off many of its workers, Daily sought a job with more security. He soon found it in the amusement-machine business. At first he kept his job with the railroad and worked part-time distributing jukeboxes. In 1933, he borrowed $250 from a Southern Pacific coworker to open a store. Before long he had his own jukebox distributing company, known as South Coast Amusement Company, in Houston. Although he never read sheet music or played an instrument, Daily developed an ear for country music by listening to the records in his jukeboxes. Shellac rationing during World War II restricted the production of jukeboxes and records. Undaunted, Daily gathered as many records as he could and opened a record store in Houston. He claimed to have brought the first Capitol record into Texas in 1942. In 1952 Daily and his business partner, Jack Starnes, founded the Starday label. Daily paired artists with songs and supervised recording sessions. The most notable stars to sign with Starday include George Jones , Roger Miller , Benny Barnes , and Frankie Miller. He also helped launch the careers of J. P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson , Johnny Preston , and others. By 1958 Daily had sold his interests in Starday and began producing and managing his own Houston based label, D Records . He hoped this line would serve as a regional subsidiary for Mercury Records, with which he had established a working relationship as George Jones's producer. The two companies reached an agreement by which, if a D Records recording began selling well in Texas, Daily would lease the record to Mercury for national distribution. During the next twenty years D Records released hundreds of songs, including a couple of early recordings by Willie Nelson and George Strait. J.P. Richardson "The Big Bopper's" 1958 recording of "Chantilly Lacy" became Daily's biggest seller. Although the label typically recorded Texas honky-tonk music, it also covered western swing, rockabilly, Tex Mex, Cajun, and polka music . Pappy recorded his last session in February 1971 in Nashville with George Jones. During the 1970s and 1980s he remained active only with his publishing company, Glad Music Company, founded in 1958. Glad was still an active company in the 2000s, with rights to such classics as "White Lightnin'," "She Thinks I Still Care," "Chantilly Lace," "Night Life," and "The Party's Over." Several members of the family carried on his musical legacy. In 1958 Pappy sold his record-distributing company, H. W. Daily, Inc., to his sons, Bud and Don, who opened Cactus Music and Video in Houston in 1975 and operated the store until their retirement in 2006. Daily died on December 5, 1987, in Houston and is buried at Forest Park Lawndale Cemetery in that city. After his death Bud and Don also took over the D Records catalog. Pappy's grandson, Mike Daily, began a successful career playing steel guitar for George Strait's Ace in the Hole Band in 1975. His grandson Wes Daily revived the D Records label in 2002.

Tsha Handbook →

Yoakum - 2025 Texas 3A Division I state football champion

2025

Yoakum defeated Grandview 45-29 for the 2025 Texas 3A Division I state football championship.

Sports News →

Trail Drivers of Southwest Texas

1867

In Memory of The Trail Drivers of Southwest Texas who passed this way 1867-1887.

Historical Marker →

Things to Do in Yoakum

historical 23.4 mi away
The Immortal 32: Gonzales Rides to the Alamo

William Travis sent out desperate letters from the besieged Alamo begging any Texan who would listen to come help. Every town looked away except one. On March…
historical 23.5 mi away
Come and Take It: The Shot That Started a Revolution

In 1831 Mexico loaned the colonists of Gonzales a small brass cannon to fend off Comanche raids. Four years later they wanted it back. On October 2 1835 a…
quirky 9.3 mi away
When Hippies Discovered Shiner Beer

For its first 60 years Shiner Beer barely left the county. Then in the 1970s something unexpected happened. At the Armadillo World Headquarters in Austin an…
historical 9.3 mi away
The Only Female Brewery Owner in America

When Kosmos Spoetzl died in 1950 his daughter Cecile -- known as Miss Celie -- took over the brewery. She became the only female brewery owner in the entire…
historical 9.4 mi away
The Brewmaster from Egypt

Kosmos Spoetzl took one of the strangest paths to small-town Texas. Born in Bavaria he trained at brewmaster school in Germany then spent eight years brewing…
quirky 9.4 mi away
The Beer That Tasted Like Medicine

In 1909 a group of homesick German and Czech farmers in tiny Shiner Texas pooled their money built a ramshackle brewery and tried to make beer that reminded…
food 9.8 mi away
Spoetzl Brewery

Home of Shiner beer since 1909. Free tours and tastings in tiny Shiner Texas.
historical 23.4 mi away
All Dead — Susanna Dickinson Brings the News

Susanna Dickinson survived the fall of the Alamo because Santa Anna wanted a messenger. He put her on a horse with her infant daughter and a warning letter for…

Sports in Yoakum

🏆 STATE CHAMPIONS Class 3A · Football · 2025

Yoakum Bulldogs — 2025 UIL 3A Division 1 Football State Champions

Most recent: 45-29 over Grandview · 2025 3A Division 1 final

Yoakum High School, a familiar name in Class 3A football across Texas, proudly represents its community. The Bulldogs have a history of competitive play on the gridiron, often battling deep into the playoffs. The town rallies around its team each season, with the stadium becoming a focal point for community spirit and athletic endeavor.

The 2025 season stands out in Yoakum's football history. That year, the Bulldogs secured the 3A Division 1 State Championship. This achievement marks a high point for the program, reflecting years of dedication and hard work from student-athletes and coaching staff.

State titles
2025
Most recent
2025, 45-29
Class
3A
The moment

The Yoakum Bulldogs claimed the 2025 3A Division 1 State Championship by defeating Grandview with a score of 45-29.

Sources: Wikipedia · UIL State Championship Archives · SI High School (ScoreBook Live)

Everything Near Yoakum

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

Explore Yoakum on the Map
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