Eldridge, Texas | |
|---|---|
  Eldridge  Eldridge | |
| Coordinates: 29°28′5″N96°21′19″W / 29.46806°N 96.35528°W | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Texas |
| County | Colorado |
| Elevation | 144 ft (44 m) |
| Time zone | UTC-6 (Central (CST)) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC-5 (CDT) |
| Area code | 979 |
| GNIS feature ID | 1378251 [1] |
Eldridge is an unincorporated community in Colorado County, Texas, United States. [1] According to the Handbook of Texas, the community had a population of 20 in 2000.
The community was named for William T. Eldridge, a railroad director who also held a portion of the Imperial Sugar Company's stock and served as general manager when it was situated on the "Bonus Loop" of the Cane Belt Railroad in 1898. This rail link ended in 1940. The community was also the site of Eldridge's one-time plantation house. [2]
Eldridge sold 1,140 acres (460 ha) of sugarcane and cotton land to the Faber Planting Company in 1905. The purchase included a gin and other storage facilities. The area was divided into 40 acres (16 ha)- to 60 acres (24 ha) blocks by the Faber Planting Company, who subsequently constructed houses for tenant farmers whose main duty was to grow sugarcane for the Eldridge refinery, which was then called Sugarland Industries. Convict labor was employed to assist the locals during harvest season. A post office was established at Eldridge in 1906 and remained in operation until 1942, when mail was rerouted to Eagle Lake. There was a general store run by the Faber company, telephone and telegraph service, and an estimated 200 people living in Eldridge in 1914. The community had a population of 100 in 1926. During the 1940s and 1950s, tenant farmers were supplanted by mechanized equipment, and the population gradually decreased, with the exception of a small number of tenants who purchased their own houses. A few of the original houses were still standing in 1986. The population in 2000 was 20. [3]
Eldridge is located at the intersection of Farm to Market Roads 950 and 2614, between Garwood and Eagle Lake in southeastern Colorado County. [3]
Today, Eldridge is served by the Rice Consolidated Independent School District.
Eagle Lake is a city in southeastern Colorado County, Texas, United States. The population was 3,442 at the 2020 census. It is home to a golf course, the largest private lake in Texas, and the Eagle Lake Regional Airport, which serves light aircraft.
Midlothian is a city in northwest Ellis County, Texas, United States. The city is 25 miles (40 km) southwest of Dallas. It is the hub for the cement industry in North Texas, as it is the home to three separate cement production facilities, as well as a steel mill. The population of Midlothian grew by 121% between 2000 and 2010, to a population of 18,037.
Littlefield is a city in and the county seat of Lamb County, Texas, United States. Its population was 5,943 at the 2020 census. It is located in a significant cotton-growing region, northwest of Lubbock on the Llano Estacado just south of the Texas Panhandle. Littlefield had a large denim-manufacturing plant operated by American Cotton Growers.
Wharton is a city in and the county seat of Wharton County, Texas, United States. This city is 60 mi (97 km) southwest of Houston. Its population was 8,832 at the 2010 census and 8,627 at the 2020 census. Wharton is located on the Colorado River of Texas. U.S. Highway 59 passes west of it.
The Buffalo Bayou, Brazos, and Colorado Railway, also called the Harrisburg Road or Harrisburg Railroad, was the first operating railroad in Texas. It completed its first segment of track between Harrisburg, Texas and Stafford's Point, Texas in 1853. The company established a western terminus at Alleyton, Texas prior to the Civil War. The railroad was sold after the war and reincorporated as the Galveston, Harrisburg, & San Antonio Railroad. This right of way was acquired by the Southern Pacific Railroad and is today a property of the Union Pacific Railroad.
Gause is an unincorporated community in Milam County, Texas, United States. According to the Handbook of Texas, the community had an estimated population of 400 in 2000. For statistical purposes, the United States Census Bureau first defined Gause as a census-designated place (CDP) in the 2020 census with a population of 275.
Alleyton is an unincorporated community in central Colorado County, in the U.S. state of Texas. According to the Handbook of Texas, the community had a population of 165 in 2000.
Kirtley is an unincorporated community in west central Fayette County, Texas, United States. It was once known as Primm.
Bonus is an unincorporated community in northern Wharton County, Texas, United States located about 15 miles (24 km) north of Wharton near the intersection of Farm to Market Road 102 and Farm to Market Road 2614.
Egypt is an unincorporated community in northern Wharton County in the U.S. state of Texas. According to the Handbook of Texas, the community had a population of 26 in 2000. It is located within the Greater Houston metropolitan area.
Glen Flora is an unincorporated community in Wharton County, Texas, United States. According to the Handbook of Texas, the community had an estimated population of 210 in 2000. It is located within the Greater Houston metropolitan area.
Lissie is an unincorporated community in Wharton County, Texas, United States. According to the Handbook of Texas, the community had an estimated population of 70 in 2000. It is located within the Greater Houston metropolitan area.
Pierce is an unincorporated community in Wharton County, Texas, United States. According to the Handbook of Texas, Pierce had an estimated population of 49 in 2000. It is located within the Greater Houston metropolitan area.
Lane City is an unincorporated community in Wharton County, Texas, United States. According to the Handbook of Texas, the community had an estimated population of 111 in 2000. It is located within the Greater Houston metro area.
Garwood is an unincorporated community in Colorado County, Texas, United States. According to the Handbook of Texas, the community had a population of 975 in 2000.
Borden is an unincorporated community in southwestern Colorado County, Texas, United States. According to the Handbook of Texas, the community had a population of 60 in 2000.
Chesterville is an unincorporated community in eastern Colorado County, in the U.S. state of Texas. According to the Handbook of Texas, the community had a population of 50 in 2000.
Matthews is an unincorporated community on the southeastern edge of Colorado County, in the U.S. state of Texas. The community is located south of Eagle Lake near the junction of FM 102 and FM 950. The settlement was named for a man who owned a plantation in the area before the Civil War. By 2013, the school, post office, businesses and railroad line that once served Matthews were gone, but the number of silos in the neighborhood indicated that the land was still being intensively farmed.
The Cane Belt Railroad was chartered in the U.S. state of Texas in 1898. Formed by a group of businessmen from Eagle Lake, the short-line railroad was intended to bring the area's sugarcane to market. In 1902 a disagreement between two of the railroad's chief promoters proved deadly. By 1904 the line was in operation from Sealy to Matagorda on the Gulf of Mexico. That year the company's stock was bought by the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway and the line continued operations under lease to the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway starting in 1905. By the 1920s, the local sugarcane industry collapsed but the railroad was saved by the discovery of two nearby sulphur mines. In 1948, the Cane Belt was merged into the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway. In the 1990s most of the original line was abandoned after the last sulphur mine closed. By 2013, only a small portion of the line south of Bay City was operating as part of the BNSF Railway.
Long Lake is an unincorporated community in Anderson County, in the U.S. state of Texas. It is located within the Palestine, Texas micropolitan area.
Municipalities and communities of Colorado County, Texas, United States | ||
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| Other communities | ||
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