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1910 |
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By Harry Austin Clapp When you read this, forget the Collegeport of today and think only of the Collegeport of 1910 for all this copy is from the columns of the Collegeport Chronicle of that year. Mr. U. A. Pierson who has been north the past eight weeks returned Tuesday. Mr. M. F. Bonner is getting ready to build on his lots near Avenue J and Third Street. Mrs. C. W. Rutherford left for her old home in Kirwin, Kan., last Saturday. Hon. Harry Austin Clapp was in Houston Tuesday in the interest of the Mid-Coast Congress. Prof. W. H. Travis, wife, mother and family, were guests at Hotel Collegeport for dinner last Sunday. Work on the roads and repairing bridges and washouts has kept overseer Judin on the alert this week. Mr. B. B. Harnish arrived with his family from New Mexico. He is occupying the Lipsitt house on Avenue E. Mr. Burton D. Hurd is in Joliet and Chicago this week on business for the land company. There will be a meeting of the Industrial League Friday night at the College Chapel. Mrs. O. B. Kone and daughter, Evelyn, left Friday for Little Rock to attend the Confederate Reunion. Mr. H. H. Black who has been detained at
the The Dena H, the popular launch took a party of Collegeport, citizens down the Bay to Port O’Connor Wednesday, returning on the same day. Mr. Ben Carey and family took dinner Sunday at the Hotel Collegeport. It is growing quite popular with residents of Palacios to take the boat trip to Collegeport, dine at the Hotel Collegeport, and take the Brownsville Flyer into Bay City and Houston. Mrs. Theo Smith and daughter, Miss Grace, were in Houston this week selecting the furnishings for their new Bay front residence which is now receiving the finishing touches. The Jenny Wren Club will meet on Saturday at the home of Anna Van Ness on the corner of South Boulevard and Avenue O. The monthly church social will be held Tuesday evening. A class of girls from the Sunday School will have charge of the program. Will Shuey and George Braden have been hooking some fine catfish at the Willow Dam. Mrs. J. W. Turner left Tuesday for Beaver City, Neb., to witness the graduating exercises of the high school, her son being a member of the class. Mr. and Mrs. Roy Nelson visited in Citrus Grove last Sunday. Mr. and Mrs. James Maples, father, mother and Jack Deering, took in the excursion to Brownsville last Thursday and were at the bull fight where the matador was killed by the infuriated bull. Work is progressing slowly for the Collegeport day celebration. Work commenced Wednesday on the Pagoda pavilion. For Our Advertisers In the interest of a progressive town and community, the Chronicle wishes to recommend to its readers the merchants and business men whose progressive spirit and policy enables us to reach you with the news. Theo Smith & Son, lumber and hardware; Jno. T. Price Lumber Company, lumber and hardware; Thos. M. Clark, groceries and feed; D. H. Morris, groceries and feed; The Collegeport Pharmacy, drugs, etc.; The Ruthven Market, meats; Hotel Collegeport; The Avenue Hotel; Collegeport State Bank; Mrs. Lida Williams, millinery; The Homecrofters, milk, butter and vegetables; Drott Brothers, contractors; J. L. Logan & Son, livery and bus; Payne & Legg, draymen; C. S. Eidman, R. I. Red, eggs; Liggett & Knight, well drillers; Wm. M. Pfeiffer, brick mason; Glenn Calloway, cement walks; J. B. McCain, notary public; J. H. Adams, books and magazines; Earl Ford, plumber; Abbott Kone, boats and engines; Geo. H. Laughter, boat service; Manuel Glaros, special boat trips. Schedule of the Fay Bowen: Four round trips each day leaving Collegeport at 8:30 a.m. on first trip. Geo. H. Laughter, Master. The following is condensed: The first annual banquet of the Collegeport Industrial League was held in Collegeport Hotel Saturday evening, April 23. Howard N. Sholl, president elect, was in charge and introduced the speakers, who were Secretary H. A. Clapp, Prof. W. H. Travis, L. E. Liggett, Burton D. Hurd, Judge Holman of Bay City; Hon. H. P. Sicks and Mrs. N. P. Knight. Great enthusiasm prevailed and it was generally conceded that the League was in safe hands. The menu consisted of baked trout with cream sauce, celery, pickles, sliced tomatoes, spring lettuce, boiled ham, minced chicken en casserole, potato croquettes, Waldorf salad, ice cream, strawberries, cakes and coffee. At the annual meeting the following were elected as officers: H. N. Sholl, president; W. H. Travis, vice president; H. A. Clapp, secretary; Dr. S. A. Darling, treasurer; L. E. Liggett, director. A suggestion has been made that the women get together and organize a woman’s club or league or auxiliary. There is a field for work here and the ladies are capable of doing it. The work done by the woman’s clubs of our country should be a good incentive. We leave it to them. Our local market, fresh dried bologna
sausage, 15c; bologna in oil or Came in his casket, sad story of a young
immigrant who died en route to Collegeport. Here follows the account of
the death of Axel Robert Drott, who left Sweden to join his brothers,
Alban and Gustave Drott of this city. He was picked up on the County butter brings 9 to 10 c, while creamery butter sells for 25c. Hens $5.50 per dozen and fryers about the same. Turkeys slow at 14 cents. Mr. John J. Raezer is here trying to organize the rice growers, most of them were interested only two or three holding out for further information. H. A. Paine has the contract for installing the complete machinery for the pumping plant. He states that the machinery is ready and only waits the completion of the canals and Captain Hipp gives the assurance that the canals will soon be ready for the water. Editor Travis and wife were guests at the Hotel Collegeport to Sunday dinner on the seventh inst. Captain Ross of the regular army, who is
stationed at Mr. John J. Gillespie will be superintendent on the canal work, which is a guarantee that the work will be pushed with dispatch. Six families of the United Brethren persuasion living near Citrus Grove, have united for the building of a church building at that place. The building will be 24 by 25 feet in size with a shingle roof. Labor is being supplied by the people while the Burton D. Hurd Land Company donated the land. Mr. Ross has an artesian well machine at work on his farm. The clang of the hammer on the anvil of our blacksmith shop rings merrily this week. The smithy, Mr. A. W. LeCompte is the proud father of a fine eleven-pound boy born Sunday. E. P. Woods and family were callers at Hotel Collegeport on their way to Palacios last Saturday. Col. J. E. Pierce was at the Hotel Collegeport Tuesday night and is to spend a few days looking after things at the Slough Ranch. The homeseekers party is due to arrive here Friday, March 19. They leave Chicago Tuesday May 9, via the C. R. I. & P. Railway. Government survey for This peep into the past will not only interest “old timers” who are still here but also the many Tribune readers in other parts who knew Collegeport in its early days. Matagorda
County Tribune, date unknown, Harry Austin Clapp Scrapbook 2 |
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Houston Post, January 5, 1910 |
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[Thirty-s]even New Residences in Only Eighty-Four Days is a New Record
From Friday's Daily
This is the challenge that Collegeport and vicinity send out to ambitious young towns.
A new residence every two and ten-thirty sevenths days is the story of this district's growth and the beginning is just dawning. This is no boom, but the actual coming in of bona fide settlers. Our lumber and hardware men have been working night and day and every man who had the least sign of carpentry genius has not been idle.
The contractors have been in two or three places at the same time while intending householders have spent their time wondering at the slowness of building operations in a new country. But two and ten-thirty sevenths days per house would be counted fast in some localities, while others would be satisfied to see one in so many months. Among these are a few so-called shacks with a good sprinkling of cosy bungalows and a generous portion of comfortable cottages, and not a few imposing residences.--Collegeport Chronicle
January 7, 1910 Note: The title portion
of the paper was torn.] |
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Red Oak Express, Red Oak, Iowa, February 4,
1910 |
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Red Oak Express, Red Oak, Iowa, February 8,
1910 |
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Red Oak Express, Red Oak, Iowa, February 25,
1910 |
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Kingsville, Texas, March 10. The Brownsville road will extend their Trespalacios branch to Collegeport, opposite Matagorda. the branch is now in operation ten miles east of Buckeye and some five miles additional track will be necessary to complete the link between Buckeye and Collegeport. This will be welcome news to the rice farmers and melon growers in the territory adjacent to the extension.
Houston Post, March 12, 1910 |
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Bay City, Texas, March 12.--As stated in yesterday's report of the meeting of the stockholders of the St. Louis, Brownsville and Mexico Railway company at Kingsville, among the proposed improvements for that railway is an extension of what is now known as the Buckeye switch to Collegeport, a distance of seven miles from the present terminus at the Simpson warehouse on the Texas rice plantation. A telegram was received by G. M. Magill, secretary of the Burton D. Hurd Land company, today from General Manager Perkins confirming the report and announcing that the proposition of the Hurd company and J. E. and A. B. Pierce, guaranteeing a bonus of $35,000 for the immediate construction of the extension would be accepted by the railway company. In the meantime, the company's engineers have run the preliminary survey, completing that work yesterday, and it is expected that the work of construction will be commenced in a short time. Collegeport is a new and important town on the bay, twenty-five miles west of Bay City, and is the center of the largest development now under way in this county. Many hundred of acres of large and small general farm, truck and fruit tracts have been sold lately to settlers and a new rice canal for the irrigation of 10,000 acres of rice land is now being built from the Colorado river to the vicinity of Collegeport. Over 600 acres have been planted in watermelons alone by the newcomers, and it is hoped to have the new line of railway completed in time to move the crop, which is estimated at about 600 cars, and which will be followed later by the rice crop from both the Texas and the Collegeport canals. It is the supposition that the new branch will be operated out of Bay City.
Houston Post, March 13, 1910 |
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From
The Chronicle The first carload
of sugar cane was received and planted this week. Our farmers believe in
the diversifying of crops. Orange planting is
in full swing here these days. In addition to the farms the owners of
city lots are making extensive improvements along these lines ... Harvey Austin Clapp
took a business trip to Mrs. J. V.
Brasfield of Simpson's warehouse
is a busy place these days. There has been several cars of immigrant
goods, three cars of fertilizer, one car of sugar cane seed, ten cars of
lumber and several cars of other merchandise unloaded there the past
week all for Satsuma and Collegeport. The graders to
begin work on the railroad extension from Simpson's warehouse to
Collegeport are to be on the ground before the week expires and nothing
now but the inability of the railroad company to procure steel rails can
prevent the cars from reaching here by June 1. The town that is
made up of residents, (I will not say citizens) who think only of their
dear selves and families and properties have no care nor time for money
for the good movement, will [n]ever be a city of any note. It will be a
series of high fences where each shuts himself in and his neighbors out,
and there will be need for it, but never a city. The university
nursery has added to the present stock a large tract of grape and fig
cuttings. Fifty pounds of Trifoliata seed was recently planted. The new
addition to the University farm where the stock is being raised is
located southeast of town near Mr. Aucutt's farm. The faith in the
grape crop industry of our citizens is receiving a most substantial
endorsement the past week judging from the thousands of cuttings which
have been planted by a great number of our farmers. The cuttings are of
the Tokay variety and were shipped here from Reprinted in the
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Over
600 Carloads of Melons Will Be First Big Haul for New Line Upon Its
Completion in June--Means Much For From Saturday's Daily. A deal which means
almost as much for the ultimate good of Bay City as for the interests
directly concerned has just been consummated between the Burton D. Hurd
Land Co., J. E. and A. B. Pierce and the St. L., G. & M. Ry. Co.,
the purpose of which is the immediate construction of the extension of
the Trespalacios spur from the present terminus at the Simpson warehouse
seven miles to Collegeport. While the contract has not been signed, this
leaves only minor details unsettled, as the proposition by the Hurd
company, and the Pierces, offering a cash bonus of $25,000, $5,000 a
mile for the road, has been accepted by the stockholders at the meeting
at The aim and purpose of all concerned is to have the road in operation by June 1st, not later than the middle of the month at latest, and to this end the company's engineers have this week made the preliminary survey along the route selected by the Hurd company, which leads to Collegeport via the new townsite of Satsuma, two and one-half miles below the Simpson warehouse. The early completion of the extension is rendered urgently necessary, by the fact that farmers in the vicinity of Collegeport are planting 600 acres to the one crop of watermelons, which will be ready for shipping by the middle of June, and as there will be approximately 600 carloads of freight in this one product, the company is as anxious as the growers to be ready to handle it. It is therefore plain that nothing will be left undone that will hasten the work. It is likely that the
new branch will be operated out of Thus will Bay City share in the benefit coming from the illimitable resourcefulness and indefatigable energy of the Burton D. Hurd Land Company whose plans for the development of the beautiful country along the Trespalacios so many of our citizens have consistently decried and so insistently pronounced impractical, utopian and the product of a pipe dream. That wonderful plan, in which there was art as well as materialism, will some day be worked out to the least detail, and the progress already made, manifest in the scores of new and neatly painted farm houses, the hundreds of acres of planted crops and trees, the lively, vigorous little city by the bay that has sprung like a genii's work from the prairie, the great canal system and irrigating plant, and lastly, the recognition of the substantiability of the development on the part of a great railway system--all these things have begun to impress the doubter with the thought that after all there may be something in it. The success of the Hurd company in securing the extension marks the passage of the summit of their difficulties in the work they took upon themselves only a couple of years ago, and from now on their task will be lighter, the heavy wheels of progress will move largely from impetus, and much faster development will follow.
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Special to The Enterprise Austin, Texas, April 7,--Railroad Commissioner Williams today received a letter from the management of the Brownsville road, answering the information that the company had let the contract for the construction of an extension from the plant of the S. Tres Palacios Rice & Irrigation company to Collegeport, a distance of seven miles. The company has already a line extending from Buckeye to this plant, a distance of nine miles; thus the entire extension will be sixteen miles. This extension means a great deal to that part of Matagorda county, especially in view of the fact that the attorney to require the Brownsville road to extend from Buckeye to the Tres Palacios plant. This ruling was made for the commission as a result of numerous petitions from the Bay City board of trade and others who wanted the road extended. Now the company will not only extend to the plant, but to Collegeport.
Beaumont
Enterprise, April 8, 1910 |
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Houston Post, April 15, 1910 |
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Houston Post, May 1, 1910 |
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Review
of Collegeport's Industrial Accomplishments During the First Year of Its
Career. Last week that
lively youngster on the bay, Collegeport, celebrated its first birthday,
the anniversary of the opening of the townsite to the public, and the
current issue of the Chronicle
contains the following review of the We wish we might
present photographs of Collegeport and the Collegeport country both of a
year ago and of today. The contrast may be mentally conceived, however,
by a picture of a broad prairie, with a few ranch houses and an
unfinished general store building or two, also a half dozen houses, in
addition to the hotel which pointed toward the future, placed alongside
of the larger beginning, for it is but a beginning, which we will
briefly try to describe may suffice to give some idea of the change. In
fact there is so much that the photograph would fail to record, and
which the pencil but poorly portrays, the fine spirit of citizenship,
the friendships formed, the plans for the future, the loyalty to
institutions, all these fail to come out as the photographer says, but
there are some things which are evident and worthy of note. The opening and
first year's work of the Gulf Coast University which will receive more
attention next week is an event which is not the privilege of many new
towns. This school, with its advantages to the youth and in fact to all
citizens, its advertisement of the town and country have not been
inconsiderable. The __nal
improvements, such as roads, 2 miles of which have been already graded
and are now being extended everyday, both by the development company and
the county, are of incalculable importance. Roads are graded to the
Colorado river, joining the Matagorda-Bay City road, which is to be
shelled its entire length, followed later on by the Collegeport branch,
the advancement made in other shorter roads in different directions, a
part of which is the connecting up of the boulevard system with the
county road to the north of us, beside the town grades tell the story of
progress often left to later development and the levying of special
taxes. The telephone is
another achievement which is rapidly nearing completion. The promoters
have already connections between Collegeport and Citrus Grove, and will
soon reach The Collegeport
canal, an undertaking worthy of a column by itself, from the point of
view of the magnitude of the enterprise, its significance to the
prosperity of the entire district, as well as the new and valuable
feature of transportation, enabling farmers for a number of
____ to barge their produce to the railroad at a great saving of
time, energy, and horseflesh. The dirt work of
the canal is just about completed, some gangs having finished and gone
home. The pumping machinery is being installed at a rapid rate and the
engineers and contractors are positive in their assurance that it will
be full of water when the rice farmers are ready for it. In fact the
[delay] meant thousands of dollars to those men, as the recent rains
in_____ a good stand of rice sown now, and those who sowed earlier have
a very poor stand. The completion of
the Collegeport canal, one of the largest constructed stands as a great
achievement and lasting monument to its promoters, and more so in view
of the obstacles overcome in its construction. The railroad which
is now almost [finished] will form a fitting climax to a year's
construction work. Efforts are being made to have the work completed and
trains running for the early _____ and the advent of the trains will
bring a new era of prosperity and of ____ to Collegeport. ____ at in their
entirety, there ____ has been something doing in the Collegeport country
during the ____ ____ the next year will with the ____ ____tages of the
achievements. Matagorda
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The following mention of a former resident of Red Oak who bought Texas Gulf Coast land and moved there, is from a recent issue of the Collegeport, (Tex.) Chronicle; “Mr. Geo. D. Ross is heading a party to make a jack rabbit hunt; a number of Citrus City folk are much interested also, and it is hoped that this move to clean out the jacks from the section between the Colorado river and the Tres Palacios river and bay, may succeed. There has been a large acreage of orange and other kinds of trees planted this spring and the rabbit is a great pest when the winter time comes. This hunt will not only dispose of hundreds of the miscreants, but will furnish some high class sport as well. Let everyone take an interest in it.” Go with us on our next excursion trip, Tuesday, June 21, and see what our Red Oak People are doing in the Gulf Coast country of Texas. Matt Pierce
Red Oak Express, Red Oak, Iowa, June 10, 1910 |
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Houston Post, June 26, 1910 |
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Bay City, Texas, June 29—The official returns from the road bond election are not in but a semi-official report has it that the measure was defeated by a margin of five votes. Palacios carried it by 17 votes, but the Collegeport community voted solidly against it, bringing about its defeat. With what was proposed to be done the interests of the two communities were at cross purposes.
Beaumont Journal,
June 29, 1910 |
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Reprinted in The Alton Empire, Alton, Kansas,
Thursday, July 14, 1910 |
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Mrs. S. C. Cockrell, 202 Hathaway avenue, Avondale, received news yesterday of the death of her brother, L. C. Kone of Oklahoma City. The father and mother, Rev. W. W. and Mrs. Mary A. Kone, won much fame in their time as the first whites who went from Missouri to Oregon and through their pious influence stopped the fights between the Indian tribes. Another son of the family lives at Collegeport, Texas, and other relatives in Maryland and Virginia.
Houston Post, July 16, 1910 |
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Matagorda County, Texas, July 16.—Rev. M. A. Travis, a former pastor of the Marley Baptist church and of the East Side Baptist church in Aurora has resigned as teacher in the Gulf Coast Institute, and will now spend his entire time as editor and manager of the Collegeport Chronicle and also act as pastor of the new Collegeport Union church. Over 20 carloads of watermelons have been shipped out of this district in the last three weeks. The average price obtained seems to be about $100 per acre of about 1000 melons. Most of these go to Kansas City-Omaha, etc., but a few cars were sent to Chicago. Not enough cantaloupes were grown this year to make carload shipments but everyone declares that the quality of the Gulf Coast melons are equal to the best Rock Fords from Colorado. Frank Shirey, formerly of Rockdale, is head of the bricklaying work on the $10,000 school houses being erected at Blessing. Outside of his daily work, Mr. Shirey keeps a close watch of the fine corn and rice crops growing on his 80 acre farm near town. The highest official temperature recorded so far this year has been only 16 degrees and the continuous cool Gulf Breeze has demonstrated to everyone that this region should be equally attractive to Northern people for a summer as well as winter resort. Guy Hutchinson, formerly of Elwood, has a new saddle horse which comes in useful for evening trips to the dances at Collegeport and Palacios and also for chasing the range cattle who get through the fences attracted by his fine looking rice crop. Everyone must be pretty busy up North of late or else they are afraid of the “heat” on the coast—for during June there were only 7 or 8 names from Will county noted on the hotel registers. The Van Vleck colony, i. e. the Talcott Bros. and William Dougall, Jr., are back from their trip North and are ready to harvest their corn crop and get ready for fall planting of more corn, potatoes, etc. Their corn is looking particularly good and ought to give a good yield per acre. Miss Lille Miller of Bay City is visiting her old friends the Wilcox daughters at Joliet. This is Miss Miller’s first trip up North and she writes enthusiastically about the new sights she is seeing but stoutly maintains that the Matagorda County climate is best even in the summer time. Outside of a dry spell in April—we have had plenty of rain this year and crops in general never looked better. Northern people never looked better. Northern people who come down this fall will be surprised to see that we can raise their own crops almost as well as they can and a lot of other world’s staple crops besides.
Joliet Evening Herald-News, Joliet, Illinois,
Sunday, July 17, 1910 |
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Collegeport Improvements of Magnitude are Rapidly Nearing Completion--Other Notes. The track layers have spiked down two miles of steel on the Collegeport branch of the Gulf Coast Line, and are hurrying toward the terminus at the rate of one-half a mile a day. At this rate of progress, it will not be longer than ten days before the track will be completed into Collegeport, and as it is the desire of the company to get the line into operation as soon as possible, it is likely that regular service, both freight and passenger, will be inaugurated over the new line inside of two weeks. The reports from the scene of activity about the pumping site of the Collegeport Canal Co., where the last bolts in the splendid new pumping plant are being placed, are equally encouraging. Only one unit of the big double-unit plant will be placed at the present time, owing to the lateness of the season and the fact that the other will not be needed to irrigate the crop of the present season, there being only about 2000 acres in rice planted. It is expected that the plant will be running by the latter part of the present week. The rice crop along the canal is in first class condition, a fact due to the foresight of the company in advising their farmers not to plant early, in order to provide for the contingency of a late completion of the pumping plant. We are also advised that there is an abundance of water available to the pumps of this plant for the watering of all the acreage, notwithstanding the record breaking low stage of the river above this site. This disposes effectually of any doubt which may have been held as to the supply of water for this plant, which is the last plant on the river of any consequence. Altogether, the west side progress and development are materializing according to the schedule fixed by the master builders who planned them, and very much to the surprise of some very well posted and experienced canal men and railroad builders who have consistently and persistently foretold failure. Incidentally, it may be mentioned that up to the present the farmers of Collegeport community have shipped more melons and truck the present season than all the rest of the county combined, in spite of the fact that it is the youngest community in the country in point of development. Matagorda
County Tribune, Friday, July 22, 1910 |
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Kingsville, Texas, July 20.--That an immense amount of construction work is to be done on the northern divisions of the Brownsville line is evidenced from the large number of work trains put on for a period of three months, as follows: Engines 32, 29, 35, 53, 27, in charge of Conductors Barnes, Barker, Muma, Erard and F. Schenck. The work consists of ballasting the road north of Bay City with Galveston white shell and replacing the present sixty-three-pound steel rails with eighty-five-pound rails between the points named. South of Bay City gravel from the noted Black bayou pit will be used for ballasting purposes. The sixty-three-pound steel removed from the main line will be used to complete the Collegeport extension and other branch lines.
Houston Post, July 22, 1910 |
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Pacific Country
Offers Some Good Opportunities, but is Lacking in the Right Sort of
Boosters. G. M. Magill, Dear Sir: I have
been in Your's truly, F. E. Brown
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Bay City, Texas, August 22.--The track layers have passed Citrus grove, on the Collegeport extension of the Gulf Coast line, and are progressing rapidly toward the terminus. It is expected that this part of the work will be completed to Collegeport within a few days, and that service for both freight and passengers will be inaugurated at once. It is the present plan of the company to run a mixed train daily from Collegeport to Bay City and return, but later one of the motor cars now being built for the St. Louis, Brownsville and Mexico will be placed on this branch to handle the passenger business.
Houston Post, August 23, 1910 |
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Galveston Daily News, September 10, 1910 |
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Kingsville, Tex., Sept. 11.--The track department of the St. Louis, Brownsville & Mexico will complete their labors on the Collegeport extension on Thursday or Friday of this week and it is expected that train service between Buckeye and Collegeport will be inaugurated about that time.
Galveston Daily News, September 10, 1910 |
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Collegeport Chronicle. The greatness of a country depends upon not only its natural resources, but the class and energy of the citizens who settle it into prominence. The latter idea is the one that actuates the Industrial League in calling its convention. Matagorda is in the center of this great section and to her citizens falls the task of calling the neighbors together to consider their undeveloped possibilities. The convention includes this county alone, but considers later meetings which will carry out plans to be initiated at this meeting. If Matagorda county will get together a start will be made but we must get together first. This means that we, the citizens of the Collegeport country, the hosts of this occasion, should show our interest at this time. Every farmer and his family should come in and stay all day. To stay away will show lamentable lack in appreciating the duties a citizen of so great a country. Sessions will be held morning, afternoon and will close with a banquet in the evening. It is expected that the local people will attend especially the two day sessions, while the evening program is open to all. Mr. Doherty and Prof. Atwater have agreed to be present while other speakers will help to make the meeting one well worth every one's while to attend.
Matagorda County Tribune,
September 16, 1910 |
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Collegeport Chronicle. Mr. and Mrs. Theo Smith and
daughter, Miss Grace, were showing our country on Monday to Mr. D. D.
Smith of
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Kingsville, Texas, September 27.--The Brownsville road will inaugurate train service on the Collegeport branch October 30. The following new stations between Buckeye and Collegeport will be opened: Beadle, Simpson and Citrus.
Houston Post, September 28, 1910 |
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Kingsville, Tex., Oct. 3.--The Collegeport Extension time table was issued Sunday. No 61 will connect with the morning southbound train from Houston and will leave Buckeye at 12:25 p. m., Beadle 12:45, p. m., Simpsonville 1:05 p. m., Citrus Grove 1:15 p. m., arrive Collegeport 2 p. m. Arrive Buckeye 2:15 p. m., connecting with No. 4, which arrives Houston 7:35 p. m.
Galveston Daily News, October 4, 1910 |
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Kingsville, Tex., Oct. 8--The position of traveling engineer having been abolished, Harry Murray has taken his regular run on the passenger between Kingsville and Brownsville again. Conductor Charles H. Boyd and Engineer J. B. Duff have been assigned to the new mixed run between Buckeye and Collegeport, put on Oct. 3. G. A. Duckworth, for the past four years agent at Vanderbilt, has been appointed first agent of the new Collegeport station. S. J. Korf, present day operator at Vanderbilt, succeeds Mr. Duckworth as agent at Vanderbilt.
Galveston Daily News, October 9, 1910 |
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Collegeport, Tex., Oct. 9.--The opening of the Collegeport branch of the St. Louis, Brownsville & Mexico Railway will be celebrated here next Tuesday. William Doherty, general traffic manager of the road, will be present and speak on Texas history as it relates to railroad development. Addresses on different phases of the development and future of the Texas midcoast will be made by Burton D. Hurd, Professor W. H. Travis, John W. Hansel and others. The Red Oak Iowa Band will furnish the music. So the Texas midcoast grows.
Galveston Daily News, October 10, 1910 |
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Spends
a Few Hours in At the station the
four special cars were left by the regular train to give the strangers
opportunity to inspect the county seat and metropolis of the county in
which they expect to locate. Headed by the band a dozen vehicles were
loaded to capacity with the eager and curious visitors, many of whom had
never before trod ground beneath the surface of which Jack Frost never
penetrates, and while the band played, the procession covered the
principal streets of the city, from which the strangers could view the
business houses and many of the homes and premises of our prosperous
people--premises where the orange and lemon tree and the rose and cape
jessamine grow. Afterward they were
conducted to the Cash orange, fig and pecan orchard, where five acres of
orange trees are loaded down with almost matured fruit and where from
five acres of fig trees revenue has been derived this year warranting a
valuation of $1000 an acre. At For this occasion
it would be very well for business men and other citizens of Bay city to
arrange for a special train from Bay City to run to and from Collegeport
that night, so that we may also participate in the celebration and show
our interest in the progress of the new community which is growing up so
near us. This step would also encourage the management of the Gulf Coast
Line in the matter of making The
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Bay City, Tex., Oct. 15.--On Sunday, the 16th, the Wells Fargo Express Company will open services on the newly completed Collegeport branch line and have placed Gordon Jones, who is serving the company here in a subordinate capacity, in charge as route agent.
Galveston Daily News, October 16, 1910 |
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Collegeport, Tex., Oct. 22.--A special sleeping car, well filled with homeseekers, mostly from Illinois arrived in Collegeport over the Brownsville Railroad. They expressed themselves as greatly pleased with what they have seen in Texas and most of them expect to purchase land and settle here.
Galveston Daily News, October 23, 1910 |
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The Collegeport Woman’s Club met on Thursday, Oct. 12, with Miss Grace Smith. Music lovers enjoyed a treat seldom given in much larger towns than ours. The topic, according to the yearbook, was “Grand Opera and Modern Painters.” Miss Smith gave a short discourse on “The History of Grand Opera” and “Life of Richard Wagner,” also a sketch of the story portrayed in the opera “Lohengrin,” afterward playing selections from that opera. Mrs. Culp sang the “Swan Song” from Lohengrin.” Miss Smith outlined the story of Faust and Mrs. Culp sang “The Flower Song” from that opera. Mrs. Hurd read a paper on “Modern Painters,” giving one comprehensive paragraph to ceramics, which branch of painting, Mrs. Hurd is eminently well fitted to discuss. The next meeting of the club will be an open meeting of the First Church on the evening of Oct. 26. Members and their friends will have an opportunity to hear Rev. Mr. Sloan of the Episcopal Church in a lecture entitled “Writers of the Twentieth Century.” A silver offering will be taken to apply on Dr. Sloan’s expenses.
Dallas Morning
News, October 23, 1910 |
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The Collegeport (Texas) Chronicle of Oct. 20th, 1910, says, Corn for Sale—I have for sale, at my farm, 3 ½ miles, northeast of the city of Collegeport, about 1,000 bushels of good corn. This year’s crop, price $.50 per bushel. John N. Simpson If the weevil, that is in the minds of the people of Red Oak, knew of this fine crib of corn at Collegeport, Texas, they would certainly emigrate that way.
Red Oak Express, October 28, 1910 |
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Red Oak Express, October 28, 1910 |
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On the evening of November the
4th a nice crowd of people gathered at the auditorium of the Dr. Lipsitt gave an address of welcome. Miss Smith then favored them with a piano solo and responded to an encore. Dr. Livers then read a poem of his own composition. A ladies' quartette consisting of Misses Leech and Morris and Mesdames Logan and Elmer sang "Meet Me at the Fountain." Everyone was so well pleased that they responded with an encore. Miss Sarah Aucutt then gave a piano solo. Cream and cake were then served for the benefit of the Christian Endeavor. The Christian Endeavor met in
the Auditorium of the Five new students enrolled in the public school Monday morning and one at the University. This makes about 60 at the public school and about 30 at the University. The public school quarters are small and unsatisfactory at present, but they hope to be in the new building within two weeks. Mr. E. O. Jones has finished his new house north of town and has moved into it. Mrs. Mapes is enjoying a visit from relatives. Mr. Burton D. Hurd's pipe organ arrived Friday. Mrs. R. E. Coffin's mother visited her Wednesday. Mr. J. E. Pierce and A. B. Pierce and family registered at Hotel Collegeport Sunday. The last Homeseekers excursion
brought a number of prospective buyers as well as Mr. Jacobs and family
from Matagorda County Tribune,
November 11, 1910 |
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Mr. Wm. P. Ross was in Collegeport, Texas, looking for a home somewhere more than a year ago. Later however he went to Florida and invested. The sequel is given in the following letter to the Collegeport Chronicle. Miami, Fla., Oct. 24, 1910 M. A. Travis, Collegeport, Texas Dear Sir. Enclosed find $1 for six months’ subscription to the Collegeport Chronicle. Hope by that time to be in your city to invest in a home. Made mistake of my life moving here. Trying to sell out home. Yours truly, Wm. P. Ross
Winfield Courier,
Winfield, Kansas, Thursday, November 17, 1910 |
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Mr. Jacobs has bought lots in the townsite and expects to build a house soon. Mr. Theo Smith's new home on the bay front is growing fast. Mr. Leech is having a room built on to his cottage. Collegeport is growing. So many
new buildings are making noises like a city in this part of The ladies' club met Thursday with Mrs. Price. Three carloads of wood arrived this week. The people of Collegeport need not freeze now. Deer season is open now and the hunters are putting in faithful time. More than one deer hide may be seen drying in Collegeport. Mr. Jno. Roach, Jr., from Blessing was a visitor here a few days last week. Miss Bessie Halbert, the primary
teacher, is attending the institute in Mrs. M. A. Travis is reported quite ill with la grippe. Mr. and Mrs. Reignier and daughter Marie and Mrs. Merck were shopping in Palacios Friday. Mrs. Oneth called upon the Palacios dentist Thursday. Mr. and Mrs. E. P. Rice sailed over the bay to Palacios in their boat last Thursday. The people of Collegeport are feasting on duck and geese. The fowl seem to be plentiful. All that is necessary is a gun and a man that can man it. Mr. and Mrs. Cobb, Mr. and Mrs.
Clark, Mrs. Reignier, W. H. Travis and M. A. Travis are among the Matagorda County Tribune,
November 18, 1910 |
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From the Collegeport (Texas) Chronicle, we take the following items which will be of interest to many of the friends of Mr. Ross and family in this city: “Mr. Geo. D. Ross says he is preparing to plant 50 or 60 acres to rice next season, as his judgment tells him it’s the best crop to plant under present conditions. He also is going to plant 20 acres to cotton, 2 acres to rape, some broom corn, and 10 acres to water melons Mr. Ross is a most successful farmer from Red Oak, Iowa, whose judgment we believe it will pay anyone to accept as a good guide in raising crops in Matagorda county.’ “F. Ray Ross, formerly of Red Oak, Iowa, is preparing the ground to plant this month; three acres to Magnolia figs, 2 acres to Satsuma oranges, some peach trees, plum, Japanese persimmons, and a large area to strawberries. All of these fruits do extra well here, so he says he is convinced and this planting verifies his opinion.” This is a good time to remind the public that the next excursion to Texas under the auspices of the Burton D. Hurd Land Co., will be on Tuesday, Dec. 6. Get busy with your plans for this fine trip to a fine country. See Matt Pierce for particulars.
Red Oak Express, November 18, 1910 |
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Collegeport, Tex., Nov. 25.--E. S. Stockwell & Son of the Gulf Coast Nursery at Alvin have purchased land at Collegeport and will at once begin the development of a branch nursery at this point. They will also plant 100 acres to oranges as an orchard. Some twenty farmers at this point have placed their orders for Satsuma orange trees, aggregating in all some 5,000 trees. It is expected that several times that number of oranges and figs will be planted here this winter.
Galveston Daily News, November 26, 1910 |
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Two parties left Red Oak Tuesday evening bound for the southland. Those from Red Oak accompanying Mr. Bogges to Dalhart and Middlewater in the Panhandle district of Texas were T. C. Morrell, A. J. Sourwine, Samuel Payne, Chas. Finley, Dr. B. F. Spicer, and J. E. Cochenour. Many joined Mr. Boggess at other points making up a large party. With Matt Pierce, Mgr. of the Burton D. Hurd Land Co., were J. Velander, Roy Hazelleaf and father from Kefanee [Kewanee?], Ill., John Burg, Jona Flood, Mrs. D. C. Powers and Amada Anderson, Mrs. John Kirkpatrick and children accompanied the party to Kansas City and will go later to Texas. The latter party were bound for the Gulf Coast country their destination being Collegeport, Texas. They were joined at Pacific Junction by a car from Nebraska with the Laurel band and by other parties at Kansas City. Both Mr. Boggess and Mr. Pierce had special cars and a pleasant trip is anticipated by the excursionists.
Red Oak Express,
December 9, 1910 |
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Bay City, Tex., Dec. 11.--Postmaster Adams of Collegeport is in receipt of a communication from W. S. Gaines of Fort Worth, division superintendent of the railway mail service for this section, to the effect that he is now considering the matter of having the mails brought into Collegeport by way of the new rail line into that town rather than by boat from Palacios this method not always being the most sure in time of northers when the water in the bay is made scarcely passable by even the smallest boats.
Galveston Daily News, December 12, 1910 |
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Collegeport Chronicle. Last week's issue was too
crowded for an account of the Matagorda County Fair at The exhibits showed that our county in live stock, poultry, grains, vegetables, fruits, etc., has no superior. The exhibit in poultry was especially fine; fowls of every breed were there and they excelled in every case. When it came to potatoes, both Irish and sweet pumpkins and other vegetable varieties, the visitors eyes were opened wise by the excellent display of our county's products. Of course the oranges, of which there were a number of exhibits, excited much interest and those who before were skeptical, were thoroughly convinced. On the whole, the verdict was that Matagorda county can make good her claim that her land can raise more kinds of good stuff than any other country on the globe. Collegeport was not represented as we should have been, but the newness of our country and the poor train connections and the suddenness of the fair forbade a large interest. Look out for us next year. Matagorda County Tribune,
December 16, 1910 |
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Word has been sent over from Collegeport that the handsome and costly residence of Burton D. Hurd came very near being totally destroyed by fire Sunday evening. In some manner or other a lamp which was being carried about accidentally fell to the floor and the oil became ignited and in a few seconds there was a serious conflagration threatened which looked as though the handsome residence would meet with total destruction. Through the wise forethought of the occupants of the house the fire was extinguished without very serious injury by the vigorous use of some rugs which were lying on the floor. The fire fiends was soon whipped into subjection and the serious conflagration averted. These are the particulars as far as The Tribune has been able to get them at this time. Mr. and Mrs. Hurd’s many friends in Bay City are glad to know that their residence was saved and congratulate them that the catastrophe was not more serious.
Matagorda County Tribune, December 23, 1910 |
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