Austin Building
W.E. Austin & Family, Owners 1908-1960 Charles and Beverly Runyan, Owners
Gift Shop 1996-present
Historic Use: The Alcove 1909-1939 Neuman's Dry Goods 1940-1984
Designated as a Landmark Building April 20, . . . — — Map (db m195201) HM
Bachman Grocery
1936-1978
Jim Frankson & Mike Griffith Professional Building 1996-present
Designated as a Landmark Building April 20, 1998 — — Map (db m193873) HM
Built by subscribed funds, about 1907. Stage for city's patriotic political rallies, entertainments, concerts by city band, made up of music lovers of all ages, talents. Once on southeast, then southwest corner of court square. Moved here in 1963. . . . — — Map (db m191960) HM
Organized in 1912, the Bay City Public Library was first housed in the J. P. Keller Insurance Company office. The non-profit Bay City Library Association, also formed in 1912, spearheaded community fund raising efforts to operate the library. Land . . . — — Map (db m120755) HM
The origins of this congregation date to 1870, when circuit-riding ministers visited people living along the Colorado River at Red Bluff. Norman Savage (1826-1879), church elder, served the small congregation, and the first minister was Thomas W. . . . — — Map (db m191961) HM
An election in the fall of 1894 resulted in the relocation of the Matagorda county seat from the city of Matagorda to Bay Prairie (now Bay City). D.P. Moore, the postmaster at the nearby small town of Elliott, owned property in the new town and . . . — — Map (db m96314) HM
Erected in 1941 on land loaned by the Pierce Estate to serve both local citizens and World War II military personnel at Camp Hulen in nearby Palacios, this is one of 16 United Service Organization (U.S.O.) facilities built that year in Texas, . . . — — Map (db m191959) HM
Lacking church facilities in their "North-End" African American neighborhood, Harris and Maria Anderson began to hold lay services in their home about 1904. They built a brush arbor and in 1905 organized the Bethel Baptist Church with the Rev. Joe . . . — — Map (db m191987) HM
The Cedarvale Cemetery traces its history to 1896, when Rufus A. Mathis was killed in a hunting accident and buried on land owned by D.P. Moore. At the time of his death, Mathis and other community leaders were in the process of establishing a . . . — — Map (db m191945) HM
Henry Hofmann Loos (1887-1963) graduated from Johns Hopkins University in 1908 with a B.A. in the summer of 1911, Dr. Loos interned at the government hospital in Colon, Panama Canal Zone. He graduated with an M.D. in 1912 and interned for three and . . . — — Map (db m191985) HM
This cemetery traces its origin to 1907, when 1.8 acres of land were purchased from D.P. Moore. The first recorded burial was that of Henry Abram in 1912.
Known earlier as "The burying ground for Negroes," "Cedarvale Eastside," and "The Old . . . — — Map (db m191946) HM
During the early days of Anglo-American colonization in Texas, the Matagorda Bay Prairie area was an important route for people traveling between settlements. A convenient river crossing was a necessity, and a ferry was established on the Thomas . . . — — Map (db m89332) HM
Members of Trespalacios Baptist Church, a Matagorda County congregation established in the early 1850s, organized a Baptist church in the nearby community of Red Bluff in 1889. In 1895 they moved the church to the new county seat of Bay City, . . . — — Map (db m191965) HM
In 1894, the Bay City Town Company established the town of Bay City on Bay Prairie between the Colorado River and Caney Creek. As families moved to the new townsite, religious institutions, businesses and schools were established to serve the . . . — — Map (db m191947) HM
Within a year of becoming one of Bay City's original settlers in 1894, Alexander D. Hensley organized an interdenominational Sabbath school with the help of Gilford M. Magill. Early religious services were held in the county courthouse and in a . . . — — Map (db m191962) HM
In May 1847, the Catholic Church established a new frontier diocese in Galveston. During the next several years, many Polish Catholic immigrants moved to Matagorda County, and priests from nearby towns visited their small community, known as St. . . . — — Map (db m191948) HM
(front side)
Born in Vermont. Came to Texas in 1824. Worked to establish the Republic. Represented Matagorda in the First Congress of the Republic where he served as speaker, Oct. 1836 to April 1837. At his death in Sept. 1837 left . . . — — Map (db m117462) HM
Le Tulle Building (Commercial Style) Historic Use: First United Methodist Church Church School and Fellowship Hall 1937-2001
Made Possible by the Generous Gift Louis and Hattie C. Le Tulle 1937
Designated as a Landmark . . . — — Map (db m193869) HM
Lewis Building
J.C. Lewis, Owner
Housed Five Governmental Agencies
V.W.H. Enterprize Owners 1983-present
Designated as a Landmark Building October 5, 1998 — — Map (db m195181) HM
Early home of the Karankawa Indians. Landing place of LaSalle in 1685. Settled 1822-1836 by colonists of Stephen F. Austin. The municipality of Matagorda organized under the Mexican Government on March 6, 1834. Became on March 17, 1836, Matagorda . . . — — Map (db m120752) HM
Near the mouth of the Colorado River, 20 miles to the south, is the town of Matagorda, the second most important port of entry in early Texas. In the Civil War, center for rich farmlands and one of 8 Texas ports that blockade runners used for . . . — — Map (db m120750) HM
McLendon Building P.A. McLendon, Owner
Historic Use; Klein's Dry Good Store Guess 5&10 Cent Store 1935-1956 Hines Youth Shop 1982-1995
Claude & Hildred Hines, Owners 1981 Present
Designated as a
Landmark Building
April . . . — — Map (db m195186) HM
The Rev. Basil Tolson, an African American farmer in eastern Matagorda County, joined with his neighbors in 1887 to form a Baptist congregation which they named Mount Zion Baptist Church. Tolson was elected pastor, and served the congregation until . . . — — Map (db m191984) HM
Established 1898, four years after founding of Bay City. Private bank. Owners: Henry Rugeley, Frank Hawkins. This building erected 1903, site of many investment transactions important to Texas Gulf Coast development.
Recorded Texas . . . — — Map (db m120754) HM
Original City Hall Building City Hall and Fire Station 1927-1963
Matagorda County Museum 1965-1992
Municipal Court 1997-
Restoration/Renovation by: Bay City Community Development Corp. Bay City Gas Company City of Bay . . . — — Map (db m193870) HM
The Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States (VFW), founded in 1899, traces its roots to military veterans securing rights and benefits for their service. Following an initial Jul. 21, 1940 meeting at the old bandstand on the courthouse square, . . . — — Map (db m191943) HM
In 1901 this land was a pastoral scene of trees and a strawberry field outside the city limits. That year the Bay City Independent School District purchased most of this block for $300. A two-story, eight-room frame school was erected here, and . . . — — Map (db m191956) HM
The Bay City African American community established a school in the 1890s, and A.A. Deleon served as its first teacher. Three others, A.G. Hilliard, A.P. Allen and J.J. Grundy, began shortly after the school opened. By 1904, the school's enrollment . . . — — Map (db m206315) HM
This congregation traces its roots to Christ Church, Matagorda, from which parish many of its early members had come following the relocation of the Matagorda County seat to Bay City in 1894. Formally organized in 1895 under the leadership of the . . . — — Map (db m191964) HM
Sugar cane mills were used to make syrup from the sweet sorghum cane that grew extensively along Caney Creek in the late 1800's and early 1900's.
Once the cane was stripped, topped, and cut, it was hand-fed into one side of the mill. A . . . — — Map (db m118408) HM
