Wharton County, Texas

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Formed From

• The Texas legislature created and organized Wharton County in 1846, incorporating part of Stephen F. Austin’s original Mexican land grant from Colorado, Jackson, and Matagorda Counties. It is named for John A. and William H. Wharton, Texas Revolution brothers.^[1]

History/Timeline

Railroad and buggy

Wharton county is named for brothers William Harris Wharton and John Austin Wharton.^[2]

Paleo-Indian period through Late Prehistoric period for as long as 10,000 years Indians were present. ^[3]

1687 René Robert Cavelier, Sieur de la Salle, traversed the area on the last exploration he made before his death.^[3]

1688-1689 Alonso De León passed through on his third and fourth trips in search of the La Salle colony. ^[3]

1700's- 1823 Karankawa Indians, Coco band were hunting, settlement in the Bernard, Caney, Peach, Mustang, and Colorado waterways as late as 1823.a little later Tonkawas.

1718 Martín de Alarcón came to inspect East Texas missions after exploring Espiritu Santo Bay.^[3]

1745 - 1746 Prudencio Orobio y Basterra explored the coastal area. ^[3]

pre 1821 Spain controlled the territory until Mexico achieved independence. Anglo-American colonization began under a program sponsored by the Mexican government. Settlers (31) of Stephen F. Austin's Old Three Hundred received titles to land in Wharton County. ^[3]The main transportation trails across the county originally passed along the Colorado River and Caney and Peach creeks from Matagorda to San Felipe, bisected by a trail across the Colorado near Egypt that connected Richmond with Texanna; the Old Spanish Trail.^[3]

Early colonists located their land grants near Colorado and San Bernard rivers for access to building materials and stream transportation .. Most built their homes along the Peach and Caney creeks, so the homes would not get flooded when the Colorado River flooded..,

Agriculture was developed nearthe Caney with its rich alluvial soil. The slaves burned off large sections of the primeval canebrake forest and planted corn, cotton, and sugar cane. The settlers were mostly from Southern states. These homesteads followed the Cotton tendency, their land was worked by Black labor. .^[3]

1830's Many Settlers came from from Alabama. Sometimes the trail Matagorda to Texanna was labeled "Alabama Road"..^[3]

Later settlement was on the open prairies in the county's western areas, where European immigrants operated small family farms and raised livestock with no black labor. .^[3]

1836 - William Menafee was a signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence

March 1836 - Gen. Martín Perfecto de Cos camped near Egypt on Peach Creek, at Spanish Camp, his way to reinforce Gen Antonio López de Santa Anna's army at San Jacinto. .^[3]

April 21, 1836 Egypt resident, W. J. E. Heard, was captain of Company F, First Regiment of Texas Volunteers, at the battle of San Jacinto. Heard, .^[3]

1837 - Post West Bernard Station, an ordnance depot of the Republic of Texas army, was established in the summer. Here men refurbished the military arms that had been seized at San Jacinto from the Mexican Army and those turned in by discharged Texas volunteers at Camp Independence near Texanna. Egypt was an alert post to any crossings by the Mexican Army on Mercer's Ferry on the Colorado west of Egypt..^[3]

1836 - 1846 Dispersed settlement continued to occasional farm settlements, the area was a near wilderness. After the war postal stations were established at Egypt and Peach Creek in Preston in 1839, Wharton in 1846, and Waterville in 1859..^[3]

1846 - Wharton County was established after Texas statehood and the Mexican War from parts of Matagorda, Jackson, and Colorado counties, taking their best and most fertile land..^[3]

1846 County Seat was provided by an act of Republic of Texas requested it be located on NE bank of the Colorado River in the E- central portion of the county. This was within one of the leagues granted to William Kincheloe (Baptist in Austin's colony- home on E Bank Peach CR.. .^[3]

1842 Heard, Albert Clinton Horton, Henry P. Cayce, G. W. Tilley fought against Gen. Adrián Woll at San Antonio..^[3]

May 23, 1847 - Reverend Noah Hill organized first Baptist Church in Wharton - 24 whites and 98 slaves as charter members. ^[3]

1845 A. C. Horton was a charter trustee for Baylor University in 1845 and donated a bell to the Ladies Seminary in Independence in 1858. .^[3]

1835 Reverend J. W. Kinney held a Methodist camp meeting in Egypt at W. J. E. Heard's home, and it is purported to be the first denominational service W of Trinity River; white and black families were in attendance. .^[3]

1848 The first county courthouse was built in 1848 but was so poorly constructed that it was replaced in 1852.

1850-forward Numerous Jewish families immigrated to Wharton County founded business establishments; the greatest number moved into Wharton. .^[3]

1858 slaves made up 2,181 of a total population of 2,861. Antebellum Wharton County resembled parts of the Deep South, as planters and farmers from states there moved to the region. Value of Wharton Co. land was $10.40/acre highest in Texas. .^[3]

1860 Albert Clinton Horton was Wharton County's largest slaveholder, with 170 slaves. Value for Wharton County land went up to $14 per acre. There were 13,665 cattle. Due to sugar cane production, Wharton, fort Bend, Brazoria and Matagorda counties were called the Texas Sugar Bowl. Railroad Completion of the Buffalo Bayou, Brazos and Colorado Railway extension across the NW corner of the county by 1860 improved commodity prices. Consumer goods were brought by riverboat up the Colorado River from Matagorda.

1862 Residents of Wharton County cast only two votes against secession many joined the Confederate war effort as part of

Terry's Texas Rangers

Home Guards of Egypt, Wharton and Waterville. (part of 22nd Brigade of Fayette, Colorado, Matagorda counties

Wharton Rifles.

Camp Buchel named of Col. Augustus Buchel, C.S.A.

Civil War and POST No fighting occurred in Wharton County, but the Civil War destroyed the county's plantation economy. With the emancipation of slaves, the repudiation of Confederate securities, declining property values, and cotton too expensive to grow and market, Wharton County's scrip $0.33 on the dollar. .^[3]

1873 Plantations were converted into cattle ranges, agricultural depression increased by a national depression..^[3]

Reconstruction, several county officials were removed from office and replaced with others more supportive. .^[3]

1870-1890 after emancipation, Wharton County blacks outnumbered whites-the proportion reaching a ratio of five to onein 1890. .^[3]

1880 R. H. Tisdale was elected county commissioner and served three non-consecutive terms, A. H. Speaker was elected county commissioner in 1886 for two terms, and E. P. Young was elected county and district clerk in 1888. Mingo Hodges served on the county school board for many years, and other black men served as justices of the peace. .^[3]

1881 El Campo experienced rapid growth due to completion of New York, Texas and Mexican Railroad (population of 856). (1,766 by 1920) .^[3]

first Reconstruction school for blacks later became the Wharton Training School in Wharton. :1887, 1897 2 black newspapers, the Wharton Southern Monitor and the Wharton Elevator, were started. There were numerous black owned or operated businesses around the courthouse square between 1880 and the late 1930..^[3]

1889 Separate black commercial districts developed, a trend common in most Texas communities. Whites responded to radical reconstruction, formed White Man's Union Association to protect white interests and to limit black political participation.

1880's No person could file for office without approval by the association. Conflict between this organization and the independent political ticket resulted in the politically-motivated murder of a candidate for sheriff. The White Man's Union continued to function up until the 1950s and was known for a time as the Wharton County Party. The Ku Klux Klan was evident in the county and had 500 members at one time..^[3]

1880s the iimmigration of Europeans and the extension of railroads stimulated growth. Swedes, Germans, and Czechs settled there during that time. English and Welsh immigrants were brought in to establish New Philadelphia had trouble with open range people. .^[3]

1898 A smallpox epidemic led to the draining of Caney Creek and the construction of a hospital in Wharton. A county hospital was built in 1937..^[3]

1880-1906Cattle raising replaced the plantation system as Wharton County's major industry after the Civil War and drew significant numbers of Mexicans into the area to serve as herdsmen. Herds were formed as residents bought cattle and rounded up strays that had multiplied on the prairies when access to markets was limited.

Abel Head (Shanghai) Pierce acquired vast acreage on the W side of the Colorado, with a cattle empire that stretched over 3 counties (half-million acres), of which 30,000 were in Wharton County. He died Dec 1900, left his nephew, A. P. Borden, to manage the first major importation of Brahmans to the United States, specifically Wharton County, in 1906..^[3]

1890's Plantations that had converted to other crops after the Civil War returned to sugar production in the 1890s, and sugar, cotton, corn, and hay became the county's principal products potatoes, spinach, broom corn, cabbage, figs, and honey.

1890- 1900's Wharton had 2 large pumping plants, known as Waterhouse Irrigation Company and Southern Irrigation Company. Rice production centered east of the Colorado River near Lissie and Nottawa on the Lissie Prairie and Lane City and Magnet on the Bay Prairie and west of the Colorado near Louise, Pierce, and Danevang..^[3]

1900 J. D. Hudgins had purchased some Brahman cattle and later purchased some from the Pierce Ranch herd and imported Brazilian bulls via Mexico. The J. D. Hudgins Ranch in Hungerford eventually established the largest American Grey Brahman herd in the world. Wharton County became the second largest cattle producing area in the state. .^[3]cottonseed oil mill in Wharton became the county's first long term major industry.

1900 -Wharton County's population tripled to 16,942. (1910 it was 21,123), of which 12,234 were whites (2,000 were foreign born) and 8,899 blacks. Experimental farm produced tea, camphor, poppy on the Pierce Ranch lands. Japanese families, encouraged by the government, began rice farming on land just opposite Wharton on the W bank of the Colorado. Irrigation from 3 canal systems built from the Colorado River around 1900 helped farmers diversify and turn to rice as a dependable cash crop. .^[3]

1912 the county had a black agricultural fair, employed a black county agricultural agent.

1930s Deep water wells, fertilizers and irrigation increased the production.Farming grew with the introduction of deep water wells and the innovation of chemical fertilizers; land under irrigation increased to 21,384 acres, and one million bushels of rice was produced in 1930, making Wharton County a leader in Texas..^[3]

Asa Dawdy Saloon – The Dawdy Saloon, owned and operated by Asa Dawdy, boasted the longest and most extravagant bar in the county, replete with statues, detailed woodwork, and an enormous mirror. Dawdy’s establishment was said to have more expensive paintings and statues than any of the finest homes in Wharton County.

Asa Dawdy Saloon .

1910 Wharton Tx Hangman’s Day – In 1910 a crowd gathered around the scaffolding adjacent to the Wharton Jail for a hanging.

1910 Hanging.

In the 1920's during prohibition, bootlegging and KKK had achieved mainstream status in Texas. Many judges, sheriffs and police chiefs wore black robes or badges by day but donned white robes and hoods at night. Government officials resorted to Klan backing. First-time candidates sought the KKK’s endorsement if they were not already members. According to a report Gillam attended a KKK Rally and was disgusted by the selections made and the fact that many non-Klan members had been allowed to attend a supposedly closed meeting, Gillam made a speech about the procedures. He retired to his hotel room in Austin, Texas and leaked the details of the meeting to Austin Statesman newspaper. When there was a knock on his hotel door, he opened it with his gun. Men were in the hall, begging him not to leak their identities. Needless to say many lost their positions. Also Texas Masons helped in ridding the state of the Klan.

Ku Klux Klan, 1908 .

Government Offices

There were 3 county courthouses:temporary, 1848, 1852, 1888 with alterations.^[4]

William Kincheloe family donated land on the east bank of the Colorado River for a courthouse square, ^[4]

1st Temporary Courthouse - and the home of first county treasurer Daniel Kincheloe served as a temporary courthouse. ^[4]

1st County Courthouse 1848 - a framed building.^[4]

2nd County courthouse 1852 two-story brick building (1852) served as courthouses on Monterey Square until the county considered a new edifice in the 1880s. Judge W.J. Croom favored a new building, while A.H. “Shanghai” Pierce and G.C. Duncan led several landowners in signing a petition and filing injunctions to stop the county from proceeding. ^[4]

By 1888, the commissioners court ordered plans from Houston architect Eugene T. Heiner for a courthouse and jail. Heiner, a founding member of the Texas State Association of Architects in 1886, also designed Judge Croom’s home (1895), Wharton Public School (1899), and other public, commercial and residential buildings in Texas.^[4]

Litigation delayed construction on the courthouse until

3rd County Courthouse Nov 1888. Completed in August 1889 It was Second Empire and Italianate style, with mansard roof,complete with decorated with pediments, truncated roofs, limestone detailing, arched windows, corner quoins, and a tall central clock tower. The salmon-colored brick came from Colorado River clay deposits. ^[4]

1939 The 1888 Courthouse as it looked in 1939.

1935 and 1949 Major alterations by architects J.W. Dahnert (1935) and Wyatt C. Hedrick (1949) resulted in new wings and entries, removal of features, and stucco exterior finish in the Moderne style. The altered structure served the county until the 21st century, when a unique and far-reaching preservation effort resulted in its full restoration.^[4]

Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 2007

Restored Courthouse

Here's an image.

tower restored

Geography

South East Texas, 130 miles SE of Austin.

Wharton co.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 1,094 square miles (2,830 km2), of which 1,086 square miles (2,810 km2) is land and 8.2 square miles (21 km2) (0.8%) is water. ^[2]

Type: prairie and timber land.

Rivers - Colorado River,crosses the county from NW to SE, flows through Wharton and Glen Flora. The county lands are drained by Mustang Creek in the extreme W, the Colorado River in the central portions, and the San Bernard River and West Bernard Creek in the E portions. Major creeks west of the Colorado River are the Blue and Jones creeks; those east of the Colorado River are the Peach and Caney creeks.

Topography -Level to undulating plains rise toward the north and are marked by a timber belt of ash, pecan, live oak;

near the Gulf, (Bay Prairie) is prairie and bunch grasses, mesquite, and oak.

The upper NE, (Lissie Prairie), is treeless with prairie and bunch grasses.

Altitude - 50 to 200 feet.

Climate is considered subtropical humid

Rainfall averages forty-two inches annually.

Temperature is 93° F in the summer and 44° in the winter months. Occasional snow falls.

Growing season -268 days per year.

Animals Originally -- bear, fox, wolves, raccoon, possum, deer, armadillos, rabbits, ducks, geese, crane, quail, and dove

Hunting is still permitted .

Soil -Loam, sand, coastal clay, and alluvial soils .

Natural resources salt domes, sand and gravel, oil, gas, and sulphur

https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hcw06

Adjacent Counties

• Austin County (north)
• Fort Bend County (northeast)
• Brazoria County (east)
• Matagorda County (southeast)
• Jackson County (southwest)
• Colorado County (northwest)

Formed From

• Matagorda, Jackson, and Colorado counties,

Protected areas

• Colorado River
• Brazos River
• Waterhouse Irrigation Company
• Southern Irrigation Company

Demographics

In 2000, there were 41,188 people, with a population density of 38 people/sq mi. There were 16,606 housing units at an average density of 15 per square mile (6/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 69.01% White, 14.95% Black or African American, 0.37% Native American, 0.31% Asian, 0.06% Pacific Islander, 13.65% from other races, and 1.64% from two or more races. 31.29% of the population were Hispanic . 12.8% were of Czech, 11.0% German and 7.0% American ancestry according to Census 2000. 73.8% spoke English, 24.0% Spanish and 2.0% Czech as their first language. ^[2]

The median income for a household in the county was $32,208, and the median income for a family was $39,919. Males had a median income of $30,480 versus $20,101 for females. The per capita income for the county was $15,388. About 13.30% of families and 16.50% of the population were below the poverty line, including 18.50% of those under age 18 and 17.70% of those age 65 or over. ^[2]

Legacy of slavery
A map commissioned by the United States government in the 1860s, and sold by the Union Army for the benefit of wounded troops, indicates that, based on data from the 1860 national census, 80.9% of the population of Wharton County was enslaved. The county then had a total of 3,380 people. This was the highest proportion of slaves in a single county in the state of Texas. Demand related to development of new areas for cultivation had caused the number of slaves overall in the state to triple between 1850 and 1860, from 58,000 to 182,566. ^[2]

Politics
Wharton County voters supported Democratic candidates between 1848 to 1856, third party candidates 1860. Years 1872 - 1896 the county voted Republican. Prohibition third party candidates won support.Democratic support resumed in the 1900 election, when the county voted for Bryan and continued, with the exception of Harding in 1920, until 1948. In the 1950s voters supported Dwight D. Eisenhower's two terms, and in the 1960s Democrats, John Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, and Hubert Humphrey won a majority. After 1972, when Republican Richard Nixon won the county. Democrat Jimmy Carter took the county in 1976, but thereafter the Republican presidential candidate carried the area in every election from 1980 to 2004. ^[2]

• Rutersville College was established after Ruters death

Highways:

• U.S. Highway 59
• I-69 The future route of Interstate 69 is planned to follow the current route of U.S. 59 in most places.
• U.S. Highway 90 Alternate
• Texas State Highway 60
• Texas State Highway 71
• Texas FM Farm to Market Road 102
• Texas Farm to Market Road 442
• Texas Farm to Market Road 1160
• Texas Farm to Market Road 1300

• Sheppard Air Force Base were important elements of the local economy. ^[2]

Politics- -Wharton County is a strongly Republican county in the 21st century. ^[2]

• Wharton County ranked eighth in Texas in total agricultural receipts. ^[2]

Airports

• El Campo Metropolitan Airport, a general aviation airport, located in8 Wharton County SW of El Campo.

• Wharton Regional Airport, a general aviation airport, is located in the extreme SW portion of Wharton.

Cities

• Wharton (population, 8,664) is the county’s seat of government, hosts Shanghai Days Cowboy Gathering

• El Campo (11,515) largest town.

Communities

• Boling-Iago (1,131)
• East Bernard (2,318)
• Louise (1,011)
• Hungerford (335)

Ghost Towns

Don-Tol, Texas

Dorman, Texas

Waterville, Texas ghost town

Nedra, Texas Ghost Town

Nottawa, Texas ghost town

Peach Creek, Texas ghost town

Plainview, Wharton, Texas ghost town

Preston, Wharton, Texas ghost town

Round Mott, Texas ghost town

Sandies, Texas ghost town

Taiton, Texas Ghost town

Waterville, Texas ghost town

Festivals

• Polka Expo in November in El Campo.
• Shanghai Days Cowboy Gathering in spring at Wharton

Land Grants

• The Texas legislature created Wharton County in 1846, incorporating part of Stephen F. Austin’s original land grant from Mexico.
• a school fund in 1854 to underwrite a public school system in the state, and Wharton County received four leagues of land to establish their common school system. Freedmen's Bureau schools operated after 1865, and in 1868 the Reconstruction convention set land aside for public schools required to serve at least four months of the year.

• Thirty-one of Stephen F. Austin's Old Three Hundred received titles to land in Wharton County.

Schools

Rockin Schoolhouse

Colleges/Universities

• Wharton County Junior College was established in 1946

Public Schools

The governor established a school fund in 1854 to underwrite a public school system in the state, and Wharton County received four leagues of land to establish their common school system. Freedmen's Bureau schools operated after 1865, and in 1868 the Reconstruction convention set land aside for public schools required to serve at least four months of the year.

Private Schools

Cemeteries

• Holy Cross Catholic Cemetery
• Saint Andrews Catholic Cemetery
• Wharton City Cemetery

• FamilySearch
• Cemeteries and photos

cemeteries]

• Wharton co. Cemeteries Gloria Mayfield
• FindaGrave cemeteries

Historic Census

1850 --- 1,752 —

1860 --- 3,380 92.9%

1870 --- 3,426 1.4%

1880 --- 4,459 30.2%

1890 --- 7,584 70.1%

1900 --- 16,942 123.4%

1910 --- 21,123 24.7%

1920 --- 24,288 15.0%

1930 --- 29,681 22.2%

1940 --- 36,158 21.8%

1950 --- 36,077 −0.2%

1960 --- 38,152 5.8%

1970 --- 36,729 −3.7%

1980 --- 40,242 9.6%

1990 --- 39,955 −0.7%

2000 --- 41,188 3.1%

2010 --- 41,280 0.2%

Est. 2015 --- 41,486

Notables

• Ima Hogg, philanthropist, b Mineola, TX

County Resources

This land is fertile. Cotton, Rice, Tea, cattle, sugar, cotton, corn, and hay became the county's principal products potatoes, spinach, broom corn, cabbage, figs, and honey, oil

Sources

1. ↑ https://texasalmanac.com/topics/government/wharton-county
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8} https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wharton_County,_Texas
3. ↑ ^{3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10 3.11 3.12 3.13 3.14 3.15 3.16 3.17 3.18 3.19 3.20 3.21 3.22 3.23 3.24 3.25 3.26 3.27 3.28 3.29 3.30 3.31 3.32 3.33 3.34 3.35 3.36} https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hcw06
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7} http://www.texasescapes.com/TOWNS/Wharton/Wharton-County-Courthouse-Texas.htm