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Bell Bottom Information |
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The community of Bell Bottom, situated approximately three miles east of Cedar Lane, lies on the banks of Caney Creek. Bell Bottom was names for A. C. Bell, who purchased a portion of the Cooper Morrison League in the late 1800’s for the purpose of development. In 1905 two Negroes, Stieve (Steve) Armstrong and Lewis Thomas, each purchased a tract of land from Bell. Armstrong’s tract was forty acres, while Thomas’ was sixty acres. Thomas later purchased another fifty acres. Each of these men erected a house on his property. Thomas moved his family from Gainesmore, while Armstrong moved his family from Brazoria. Armstrong had a daughter, Alonia, born in 1907. Alonia Armstrong Keyes still lives in Bell Bottom and tells how dense the underbrush and timber were when she was a little girl. She also tells about her father killing black bears for food. By 1910 the community had spread up Caney Creek into the A. C. Buckner League. In the late 1920’s and early 1930’s, the community had developed into a vegetable farming area with approximately twenty families growing and marketing corn, beans, peas, and greens. In the mid-1970’s a gas well was brought into production on the Nora Caldwell property. Several other wells have been drilled but none have produced. In 1985 there are only a couple of small vegetable farms along with a few small ranches and sod (grass) farms. There are approximately forty-three families making their homes in Bell Bottom today.
Historic Matagorda County, Volume I, 1984 Typed by Faye Cunningham |
