Hawkinsville was a community in Matagorda County, Texas, United States. [1] In 2018, there were a few homes nearby, several businesses one mile to the south, and the name appeared on maps, but one source refers to the place in the past tense while a second source states that the town disappeared in the 1950s. The town site is between Cedar Lane and Sargent.
Hawkinsville is located in southeast Matagorda County, 17 miles (27 km) southeast of Van Vleck. [2] The historic site of Hawkinsville is on FM 457 1.0 mile (1.6 km) north of its intersection with FM 2611. A bend of Caney Creek comes near FM 457 at the location. [3] A single home can be seen near the historic location. [4]
The town was named in honor of James Boyd Hawkins, a planter from North Carolina who established the Hawkins Ranch, a cotton and sugarcane plantation, later a cattle ranch, in Matagorda County. [5]
Van Vleck Independent School District operates schools in the area.
The designated community college for Van Vleck ISD is Wharton County Junior College. [6]
Matagorda County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, the population was 36,255. Its county seat is Bay City, not to be confused with the larger Baytown in Harris and Chambers Counties. Matagorda County is named for the canebrakes that once grew along the coast.
Van Vleck is a census-designated place (CDP) in Matagorda County, Texas, United States. The population is one of the few areas with positive growth in Matagorda County. The 2010 census showed a 25% increase with 1,844 people. Although near Bay City, TX the site of Van Vleck falls outside the ETJ of Bay City, TX and is regulated by county police and county ordinance.
Boling-Iago is a census-designated place (CDP) in Wharton County, Texas, United States. The population was 1,271 as of the 2000 United States Census. Boling-Iago is located along Farm to Market Road 1301 about 10 miles (16 km) southeast of Wharton, the county seat. Boling is located at the intersection of FM 1301 and Farm to Market Road 442, while the community of Iago is 1.5 miles (2.4 km) to the northeast at the intersection of FM 1301 and Farm to Market Road 1096. The Boling Independent School District received a Recognized ranking in 2010. The numerous pump jacks and oil tanks in the vicinity indicate that Boling and Iago lie atop oil-bearing rock formations.
Sargent is a small unincorporated community located in the eastern corner of Matagorda County, Texas, United States.
Van Vleck Independent School District is a public school district based in the community of Van Vleck in unincorporated Matagorda County, Texas (USA). The Superintendent of Schools is John R. O'Brien.
Caney is an unincorporated community in Matagorda County, Texas, United States.
Cedar Lane is an unincorporated community in Matagorda County, Texas, United States.
Cedar Lake is an unincorporated community in Matagorda County, Texas, United States.
Caney Creek (Matagorda Bay) is a river in Texas that begins northwest of Wharton, flows generally southeast, and empties into the Gulf of Mexico near Sargent. The major waterway to the west is the Colorado River while the next major waterway to the east is the San Bernard River.
Burr, also known as Lawson's Corner or Kriegel Switch, is an unincorporated community in eastern Wharton County, in the U.S. state of Texas. The small community is situated on Farm to Market Road 1301 (FM 1301) to the east of the county seat at Wharton. The settlement was first established just before the American Civil War when two plantations were set up in the area. In the 1890s, it was a thriving community, but by the 1940s it had begun to dwindle. In 2013, a few businesses and several homes and farms were in the area.
Preston is a ghost town in Wharton County in the U.S. state of Texas. The one-time settlement was located in the land grant belonging to Old Three Hundred settler John Huff near an important north–south trail. During the early years of the Republic of Texas lots were sold and a town took shape. Postal service began in 1839 and ceased in 1857. The only evidence that a town existed is an old cemetery near Farm to Market Road 1096 (FM 1096) south of Iago.
Don-Tol is a small unincorporated community in southeastern Wharton County, in the U.S. state of Texas. The community is located along FM 1301 southeast of Boling. There is a Don-Tol sign on FM 1301 at County Road 100. The name was used by Mexican workers to address William Toliver Taylor, the owner of a post-Civil War sugar cane plantation.
Colonel James Boyd Hawkins (1813–1896) was an American planter and rancher. He moved from North Carolina to Texas in the 1840s, and he established the Hawkins Ranch, a working sugarcane plantation, operated by 101 enslaved African Americans by 1860. After the American Civil War, he replaced the slaves with paid laborers and convicts, and gradually turned his landholdings into a cattle ranch.
Ashwood is a small unincorporated community in Matagorda County, Texas, United States. It is located at the intersection of FM 1728 and County Road 112. The community was established when a railroad was built through the area around 1900. It had a post office between 1910 and 1952 when it closed.