James D. Cochran, H.H. Rogers, and S.A. White, in December 1848, opened a beef canning plant. It. had only moderate success. Live cattle on foot continued to be shipped to the distant beef markets. It would be twenty years before mechanically . . . — — Map (db m193371) HM
Indian Point had developed with a port of four wharves. This was achieved in three years from the ports beginning. In 1848 a steady movement of European immigrants continued through Indian Point, destined for the inland. The Adelsverein went . . . — — Map (db m193372) HM
An adequate supply of potable water was to remain constant problem at Indianola. There were no fresh streams nearby which could be used for households and for the boilers of steamships. Green Lake and its abundance of fresh water was 20 miles away. . . . — — Map (db m193356) HM
In 1850 Angelina Eberly, a hotel owner, became the principal property holder in Indianola. Her assets being valued at fifty thousand. Mrs. Eberly's hotel catered to families, and her rooms being in constant demand. Her principal competitor was the . . . — — Map (db m193286) HM
Indian Point in 1848 presented a neat and well-ordered appearance. Oleanders had been introduced from Galveston and grew in the town. The influence of the large German population was apparent, and was a bilingual community from the start. Many of . . . — — Map (db m193287) HM
Indianola businesses were delighted with Morgan's move, and an addition to the established town was commenced. The addition included a part of the German immigrant camp, Karishafen. The addition became known as Brown's Addition to Indianola. The . . . — — Map (db m193354) HM
Edward Beaumont Architect 1859
During the storms of 1875 and 1886
Precious lives were saved within its walls of shell concrete and lime
Abandoned 1886 — — Map (db m182666) HM
In October 1848, a contingent of U.S. troops reached the port in route to San Antonio. These troops garrisoned the new fort of El Paso. Shortly thereafter, gold was discovered in Northern California and the seekers entered the port to take the . . . — — Map (db m193378) HM
Famed storyteller David Edward "Ed" Bell was born to Calvin Oscar, Sr. and Annie (Shackelford) Bell on January 10, 1905, near Leakey, Texas. After moving to Indianola, Bell and his wife, Mary Alma (Smith), bought land along Powderhorn Bayou where . . . — — Map (db m182647) HM
Sailing ships from Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Pensacola, Mobile and New Orleans crowded the four wharves at Indian Point in 1848, to discharge their cargoes for the interior of Western Texas and to take in raw materials to the . . . — — Map (db m193289) HM
On April 20, 1842, a group of nobles convened at Biebrich am Rhein and incorporated as the Adelsverein. They elected Count Karl von Castell as their president and then pledged a goal to purchase land in Texas. From 1821 to 1910, more than five . . . — — Map (db m182230) HM
Harris & Morgan's steamship yacht was on a weekly schedule between Galveston and Matagorda Bay ports. Indian Point received another boost, this one from the widely read book by the author Viktor Bracht. His book compared Matagorda Bay favorably with . . . — — Map (db m193377) HM
Many currents of the mainstream of Texas history flow in this onetime port. Pineda explored the coast in 1519 and La Salle planted a settlement near here in 1685. Once an Indian trading point, it was a major seaport from 1844 to 1875. Texas . . . — — Map (db m120708) HM
Many of the graves in this cemetery reflect the hardships encountered by residents of Indianola, one of Texas' leading 19th century ports. The earliest marked grave is that of a child, William Woodward. His death occurred in 1852, a year when . . . — — Map (db m207844) HM
Henry Joseph Huck was born on August 3, 1822, in Ottenhöfen, Baden, in southern Germany. He graduated from Heidelberg University and, with the inheritance from his mother's death, Henry ventured to London and established a merchant business at the . . . — — Map (db m182236) HM
A Tennessean, Angelina Peyton came to Texas in 1822. With her husband, J.C. Peyton, she operated an inn in San Felipe, capital of the Austin colony. Peyton died in 1834; in 1836 the widow married Jacob Eberly. She and Eberly had a hotel in Austin by . . . — — Map (db m120710) HM
Discussion was increasing of the need to change the name of Indian Point. After some debate by citizens, the name "Indianola" was proposed by Mrs. John Henry Brown. Her reasoning for the name was the first part of the current name (Indian) and the . . . — — Map (db m193376) HM
Located on the elevated ridge at Indianola Beach, this cemetery is one of three that served the port of Indianola during the 19th century. The oldest existing grave marker, that of James Chilton Allan, bears a date of 1851. Also buried here are . . . — — Map (db m208261) HM
In the early 1850's Old Indian Point, known as Indianola and Brown's Addition, was referred to as Powder Horn. With the passage of a few years the Powder Horn portion of the community, the former Indian Point would be known as Old Town and the . . . — — Map (db m193290) HM
(side 1)
Born in Rouen France November 22, 1643. Came to Canada in 1668. Founded a first settlement near Montreal. Led several expeditions on the Great Lakes and the Ohio and Illinois rivers. Completed the exploration of the Mississippi, . . . — — Map (db m120700) HM
On March 3, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln signed an Act calling for all able-bodied men to join the National Forces. William Barnes joined the Union Army the following February. He was stationed in Norfolk, Virginia and six months later was . . . — — Map (db m182612) HM
First called by German immigrants Karlshaven, an important port of Texas. Cargoes of ships were hauled to and from points in Texas and Mexico by carts until 1860 when the San Antonio and Mexico Gulf Railroad and the Indianola Railroad were completed . . . — — Map (db m120706) HM
Between 1844 and 1887, Indianola grew to become a cosmopolitan port city that was second only to Galveston. Indianola became a port for trade and was the eastern terminus of the Chihuahua Road that traveled overland from the mines of Chihuahua city . . . — — Map (db m120703) HM
A formal agreement was signed by Samuel A. White and Theodore Miller on Jan. 20, 1848. The latter acting as agent of the German Emigration Co. It was the successor of the bankrupt Adelsverein. In January 1848, John B. Brown of Victoria established a . . . — — Map (db m193379) HM
No immigrants arriving in Indianola were quite as exotic as the seventy-five camels that came ashore in 1856 and 1857 from Algeria, Tunisia, Egypt and Turkey. As early as 1836, politicians, diplomats and the military were considering the importation . . . — — Map (db m120677) HM
Charles Eckhardt and Theo. Miller, representing the merchants of Indian Point and the German Emigration Company, arranged a survey by John A. King, of Dewitt County, of a new and shorter route from New Braunfels to Victoria. The purpose was to save . . . — — Map (db m193343) HM
The Plan included a cemetery, a church, a school, a market square, four public squares, a military square, and a courthouse square. A space for a courthouse was set aside in both the Indianola and Brown's Additions. Most of the streets were named . . . — — Map (db m193342) HM
The Presbyterians and Methodists had congregations in Indian Point by the summer of 1848. A Lutheran church was organized there in 1854. The Rev. Daniel Baker, D.D. pioneer Presbyterian missionary minister, visited Indian Point in 1848. Sam. A. . . . — — Map (db m193285) HM
The trade routes from here went far beyond the central Texas towns. Much of the U.S. Government traffic moved thru Matagorda Bay as a result of the war with Mexico in 1846. It was soon followed by shipments of commercial and military goods as far . . . — — Map (db m193341) HM
The war between U.S. and Mexico ended on Feb. 2, 1848. The exodus of the American troops from Mexico was a boost to Indian Point. There was an uninterrupted flow of homeward bound troops. The treaty gave the U.S. more land which would benefit the . . . — — Map (db m193380) HM
In 1850 the U.S. Army selected Indianola as a depot through which supplies would be brought in for the military outpost. Ships were placed in regular service to bring in horses, mules, wagons, and teamsters. These and other supplies were landed at . . . — — Map (db m193288) HM
The earliest marked grave in the Zimmerman Cemetery, that of Georchim Wedig, is dated 1852. In 1863, Wedig's daughter Katherine married John Gonzales (1838-1918), who had come to Indianola in 1858 with Joseph Mendez (d. . . . — — Map (db m120713) HM
Established in 1892, the community of Olivia was named for Olivia Haterius, wife of the Rev. Carl J.E. Haterius, a Swedish Lutheran minister who bought land in the area and advertised a new settlement to other Swedish immigrants in the Midwest. . . . — — Map (db m120734) HM
In 1892, the Rev. Carl J.E. Haterius of Galesburg, Illinois, acquired land at this site with the intention of establishing a community for Swedish settlers. He named the settlement for his wife, Olivia. When the townsite was laid out in 1893, land . . . — — Map (db m120735) HM
An Early Landing Place of
Supplies for the Interior
Captain Jack Shackelford's
"Red Rovers" of Alabama
Disembarked at This Point
A Town Established Here in 1836
Was Burned by Indians in 1840 — — Map (db m181121) HM
Early education for African American students in Port Lavaca dates from the late nineteenth century and a one-room school run by James Choice. The Rev. A.K. Black, a Baptist pastor, later led the school, which included grades 1 to 5 and was located . . . — — Map (db m182150) HM
Texas land empresario Henri Castro contracted to bring colonists of various European nationalities to Texas beginning in 1842. The first of these were Alsatians, most of whom spoke German and held German sympathies. They arrived at Galveston, their . . . — — Map (db m181211) HM
In November of 1863, in the midst of the Civil War, the Union Army arrived in Calhoun County. Union and Texas troops rarely met on the field of battle in Texas, as most of the war was concentrated in the east and south of the country. The Union . . . — — Map (db m120714) HM
Constructed in 1904 by local merchant and real estate agent C.U. Yancy, the Beach Hotel has been a part of the Port Lavaca landscape for generations. At the time of its construction, the hotel was the tallest building in town. Tourists from San . . . — — Map (db m181308) HM
Formed from Jackson, Matagorda, and Victoria Counties
Created April 4, 1846 Organized July 13, 1846
Named in honor of John Caldwell Calhoun 1782-1850
A distinguished Southern statesman
A member of Congress and of the Cabinet . . . — — Map (db m205704) HM
Severe storms with high winds, heavy rains and tidal surges, hurricanes have played a significant role in events that shaped Calhoun County's history. Entire towns, including Indianola (a key Gulf seaport and Calhoun County seat) and Saluria . . . — — Map (db m120674) HM
Before World War II, Calhoun County was primarily involved in farming, ranching and commercial seafood but after the attack on Pearl Harbor, the county became a major participant in the war effort. In November 1940, much of the county's shoreline . . . — — Map (db m120676) HM
As part of the U. S. Naval initiative to control Texas Confederate ports, the gunboats "Clifton" and "Westfield" turned to the town then known as Lavaca after easily taking Galveston and Indianola. On October 31, 1862, under a flag of truce, . . . — — Map (db m173656) HM
In February 1863, local inventor E. G. Singer developed and tested a torpedo with a unique spring action ignition system on the shores of Lavaca Bay. With nine other Lavaca citizens including Singer's financial partner Dr. J. R. Fretwell and . . . — — Map (db m172433) HM
This burial ground served members of the Clark family, many of whom lived in the no longer extant Chocolate Community. Named for the Chocolate Creek, which runs nearby, the settlement began when Sylvanus Hatch purchased property near the creek. In . . . — — Map (db m206017) HM
After Texas was annexed into the United States in 1846, part of what was once De Leon’s Colony was organized as Calhoun County, giving the county access to valuable cropland and bays—the most important being modern-day Matagorda . . . — — Map (db m117439) HM
After independence from Spain, Mexico utilized the Empresario System to settle the province of Texas with loyal citizens. Seeing his opportunity, Don Martin de Leon applied on April 8, 1824, to the provincial delegation of San Fernando de Bexar for . . . — — Map (db m181115) HM
Prior to Dr. Knipling's work, livestock production in North America was plagued by enormous losses each year due to infestations of Cochliomyia hominivorax, commonly known as the screwworm fly. Edward F. Knipling was born near Port Lavaca on . . . — — Map (db m182159) HM
Organized in 1854 as the Lavaca Baptist Church, this congregation developed from area missionary efforts that began in the 1830s. The original church leaders were: Elder J.M.B. Haynie, pastor: Ammon Burr, clerk; and John Slater and Charles Ives, . . . — — Map (db m181208) HM
Legend has it that the area's first Presbyterian Church service was held in a local saloon in 1848. Eleven charter members soon began meeting with the Rev. A. Stephen F. Cocke in a warehouse also shared by the Methodist congregation and the school. . . . — — Map (db m181205) HM
The First Methodist Church of Port Lavaca was organized in 1841 by the Rev. Joseph P. Sneed of the Victoria Circuit. By 1844 the Lavaca congregation had joined the newly formed Methodist Episcopal Church, South. Though hurricanes plagued the area, . . . — — Map (db m181215) HM
Records indicate Episcopal worship services were held in Lavaca prior to the 1850s. By 1852 the Rev. Henry N. Pierce, Rector of Christ Church in Matagorda, periodically came to conduct services here. The Rev. C.S. Hedges, with funding made possible . . . — — Map (db m181312) HM
Named for the nearby tidal lake of the same name, the community of Green Lake began to develop in the late 1840s, although records indicate there were some settlers in the area before that time. A group of wealthy planters from Kentucky migrated to . . . — — Map (db m61292) HM
This hexagonal, three-story cypress building sat on a platform supported by piles in Matagorda Bay. Supplies were brought twice yearly to this lighthouse, whose beacon extended 12 miles to warn mariners of sandbars and reefs. Restoration was a . . . — — Map (db m195693) HM WM
Constructed in 1858, this three-story hexagonal lighthouse was originally located in Matagorda Bay, at the southern tip of Half Moon reef. The beacon served as an aid to ships trading in Port Lavaca and the nearby town of Indianola (14 mi. SE). . . . — — Map (db m53111) HM
This cemetery served the Hatch family and other members of the former community of Chocolate. Captain Sylvanus Hatch, founder of the settlement, was born in Falmouth, Massachusetts on June 1, 1788. He became a contractor and builder, eventually . . . — — Map (db m207766) HM
In the mid-twentieth century, Calhoun County was beginning an unprecedented period of growth. Howard G. Hartzog, Sr. was an active community leader who guided the county as a private citizen, county judge and as a state representative by diligently . . . — — Map (db m120672) HM
In Whose Honor Jefferson County, Texas
Was Named Chief Justice of Calhoun County
1848-1856 Born in Kentucky
March 12, 1801 Died July 25, 1865 — — Map (db m237452) HM
John William McKamey (1878-1955) was born in Salem, Arkansas, to John Samuel Monroe and Sarah Rebecca McKamey. John’s family valued education and moved four times in order for John to graduate from Baylor University with two diplomas in Military . . . — — Map (db m207923) HM
The first Masonic Lodge in Calhoun County was chartered as Lavaca Lodge No. 36 in 1848. After a period of inactivity during and after the Civil War, the Port Lavaca Lodge disbanded. The fraternal organization reappeared in Port Lavaca in 1886, when . . . — — Map (db m181089) HM
Born in Virginia, Dr. Moses Johnson settled in Port Lavaca about 1837. After moving to Austin in 1840 to practice medicine, he was elected city alderman and then mayor. An active Mason, he served as Grand Marshal of the Grand Lodge of Texas, A.F. . . . — — Map (db m205705) HM
Organized at Indianola (14 Mi. SE) in 1870, this church is one of the oldest Black fellowships in Calhoun County. The first pastor was the Rev. Joseph Whitlock, an elder in the White Baptist congregation of the city. Several members of this church . . . — — Map (db m182140) HM
Artillery batteries in Lavaca returned fired on two Union gunships that fired first on the small town October 31, 1862. Accurate fire from the shore batteries forced the gunboats, Clifton and Westfield, to move outside the range of the smaller . . . — — Map (db m173657) HM
In 1791, Spaniard priests Manuel De Silva and Joseph Francisco Mariano Garza endeavored to spread the doctrines of Christianity among the native tribes along the Gulf Coast, now called Karankawa, with the added benefit of giving Spain a foothold . . . — — Map (db m117448) HM
Founded in the aftermath of a Comanche raid on the nearby settlement of Linville, the town of Lavaca (the cow) was established in 1840. The busiest port in the Matagorda Bay area and a major center for over-land export of cattle and other goods, . . . — — Map (db m53110) HM
Burials in this historic cemetery began in the 1840s, with several mass graves dating from an 1849 cholera epidemic. Pioneer families and their descendants, as well as prominent state, county, and city officials, are also interred in the community . . . — — Map (db m182147) HM
The first Port Lavaca Chapter of the Eastern Star, No. 171, began in 1894, but ended 5 years later. On May 10, 1907, a second dispensation was constituted for Port Lavaca Chapter No. 373. Members of the earlier chapter were among the 13 charter . . . — — Map (db m181087) HM
The oldest known grave here is that of Major Horam Watts, the customs collector at Linnville and casualty of a Comanche raid on that nearby settlement, Aug. 8, 1840. The site was called Ranger Cemetery after the burial in 1850 of Margaret Peyton . . . — — Map (db m181210) HM
The Rev. John Nelson organized a congregation of the Free Will Baptist Church (Free Mission Baptist Church) in the coastal town of Indianola in 1872. Three years later, a devastating hurricane struck the Texas Gulf coast, inflicting major damage on . . . — — Map (db m182156) HM
Early membership in Salem Lutheran Church reflected the German Lutheran population that immigrated to Texas through the nearby Port of Indianola and the Port of Galveston in the 19th century, members of the Kemper, Knipling, Rosenbaum and Wehmeyer . . . — — Map (db m181119) HM
Chartered in 1850, the San Antonio & Mexican Gulf Railroad was one of the first railroads in Texas. San Antonio investors hoped it would open trade from the Gulf. As the line was built westward from Port Lavaca, wagons loaded with goods met the . . . — — Map (db m181220) HM
The first known grave in the Czech German settlement of Marekville was that of Veranka Drgac (1817-1897). The five-acre graveyard was deeded to the Marekville Cemetery Association by the Phillips Investment Company in 1899. The area became known as . . . — — Map (db m181118) HM
Worship services in the community that became known as Six Mile began as early as 1894, when traveling ministers such as the Rev. Anton Motycka and the Rev. Adolf Chlumsky conducted religious services once a month in the local schoolhouse. In 1900 . . . — — Map (db m181116) HM
The Phillips Investment Company issued deeds to the property on this site to Josef Marek and John Drgac in December 1894. The area, soon called Marekville, attracted Czech and German settlers with a bumper cotton crop in its first year. The first . . . — — Map (db m181110) HM
Located within 100 yards from here is one of Calhoun County's essential springs called Six Mile Watering Hole. Though the number of springs in Calhoun County is small, the location of these springs has played a part in the history of this land for . . . — — Map (db m204939) HM
When desegregation began in Calhoun County in 1955, many African American students made educational and cultural adjustments. The summer before the 1955-56 school year, long-time educator Naomi B. Chase took a group of students from the all Black . . . — — Map (db m182154) HM
Born in North Carolina, Wiley George enlisted in the Georgia militia at the age of 17, fighting in the War of 1812. He lived in Georgia and Alabama and was married to Nancy Jones (d. 1834) before coming to Texas in 1840. Settling in San Antonio, he . . . — — Map (db m182148) HM
The first chapel of Grace Parish was moved to Cuero by Bishop Gregg in A.D., 1874. The storm of September 15, 1875, sank a ship loaded with wood barrels of cement at the Port of Indianola. ...storms and high tides washed this and several other . . . — — Map (db m181316) HM
In 1909, the Calhoun County Cattle Company laid out a townsite on land that had been a part of a large ranch and settlement known as Alligator Head, named Port O'Connor for Thomas O'Connor of Victoria, from whom the company had purchased the ranch . . . — — Map (db m182669) HM
Late in the 19th century, a small settlement named Alligator Head, named for its particular landscape, developed on the coast of Matagorda Bay in Calhoun County. In 1910, the Calhoun County Cattle Company filed a plat for a town site and named it . . . — — Map (db m182668) HM
Constructed approximately 1906 by St. Louis Brownsville Mexican Railway, a subsidiary of the Frisco lines. Depot was in use until 1961, later relocated to present location for preservation and use as a museum and visitor center. — — Map (db m182689) HM
Settlement here began in the 1840s when German immigrants disembarking at Indianola stayed in the vicinity. A post office was granted in 1888, its name inspired by debris that collected on the shore blown in by heavy storms from the Gulf of Mexico. . . . — — Map (db m182680) HM
An epidemic, thought to be measles, took the lives of a number of infants in this area in 1912-1913. Some of their graves remain unmarked, but they were among the first to be interred at this site. This cemetery was established in 1912, when A.D. . . . — — Map (db m182678) HM
