Lane City, Texas

Last updated

Lane City, Texas
Unincorporated community
Lane City TX Sign.JPG
Lane City sign on FM 442 looking southwest
USA Texas location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Lane City
Usa edcp location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Lane City
Coordinates: 29°12′58″N96°01′35″W / 29.21611°N 96.02639°W / 29.21611; -96.02639
Country United States
State Texas
County Wharton
Elevation
85 ft (26 m)
Time zone UTC-6 (Central (CST))
 • Summer (DST) UTC-5 (CDT)
Area code 979
GNIS feature ID1360924 [1]

Lane City is an unincorporated community in Wharton County, Texas, United States. [1] 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.

Contents

History

The town was named for Jonathan Lane, who was an attorney and president of the Cane Belt Railroad. The completion of the Cane Belt's route from Eagle Lake to a terminus in Wharton County in 1900 was made possible by a bonus from the Missouri-Lincoln Trust Corporation, a St. Louis-based company. Lane City was the name of the terminal. Lane bought 25,000 acres (10,000 ha) in Wharton County in 1901, most likely from Shanghai Pierce, and then sold it to the Missouri-Lincoln Trust Company in 1908 for $600,000. Settlers soon arrived through the Colonial Land Company. In the northern states, a leaflet titled A Trip to the Gulf Coast of Texas was circulated. According to the leaflet, which listed names, acreage, barrels of sold rice, and profit per acre, rice was to be the key to financial success. With a cash down payment of only six dollars and an agreement to grow rice on 75% of the property and give 2/5 of the annual crop as payment for the remainder owed, the land was offered in tracts of 120 acres (49 ha) or more at prices ranging from $35 to $50 per acre. On the Colorado River, a sizable pumping facility and two smaller lift facilities were set up to deliver irrigation water to the farmers. The Bay Prairie Irrigation Company, subsequently known as the Southern Irrigation Company, provided and sold the water. T. W. Lane, Jonathan Lane's brother and president of the London Oil and Gas Company, Beaumont, started overseeing the interests of the Southern Irrigation Company in 1904. The facility claimed to have the biggest pump of its kind in the entire world. The two lift plants were situated three miles apart to serve a 23 mi (37 km) canal system, and the main plant could throw a forty-five-inch stream of water. The Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway constructed a rail spur to the Colorado River pumping station sometime around 1902; the spur was abandoned before 1940, and a county road was laid down on the rail bed. In the Arnim-Lane mercantile business, a post office with the name Arnim was founded in 1901. However, on February 13, 1911, the name was changed to Lane City. Several grocery and mercantile establishments, Methodist and Baptist churches, a saloon, a lumberyard, a blacksmith shop, a nursery, a two-story brick depot, drugstore, Knights of Pythias lodge, and hotel, and a three-story structure housing rice offices, a mill, and warehouses were all present in Lane City at the height of its prosperity in 1909. Numerous social gatherings were held in Lane City, some of which hosted up to 200 visitors. Everyone was either involved in the rice business or making money off of it. Citrus, peach, and fig trees were supplied for commercial planting by the Gulf Coast Nursery. Farmers were encouraged to run hogs, cattle, and turkeys on the land after the harvest to improve the soil, as signs of land depletion were apparent. The area suffered its final blow in July 1909 when a hurricane stormed in and obliterated the majority of the local buildings in addition to the crops. The $250,000 pumping facility suffered substantial damage, and all of the two-story structures were destroyed. Lane City never bounced back. The Gulf, Colorado, and Santa Fe built a rail offshoot from Lane City to Newgulf and then on to connect with the main line at Thompsons, in Fort Bend County when sulfur was discovered on the Boling Dome. The 1950s and the beginning of the 1980s saw a peak in oil and gas output. The community's Perma-Pom business began producing pom-poms for cheerleaders in 1974; by the early 1990s, it employed between 35 and 45 people year-round and 60 to 70 during the busiest months. The plant is located on the same property as the original sugar mill, which had previously been followed by a rice mill and a cotton gin before it was destroyed by fire. Agriculture remained the principal industry in the region in 1990, but cotton, milo, and corn had supplanted rice as the staple crops. At that time, the Lower Colorado River Authority owned the canal system, which was still in operation. In 1990, the community's post office and convenience store/gas station remained operational. The congregation of the nearby Methodist church decreased, and the 1903-built building was demolished in 1984. Only one Black Baptist church in Lane City was still actively operating in 1990. In 1920, Lane City's population was 150; in 1960, it was 200; and from 1980 to 2000, it was 111. [2]

On December 2, 1953, an F2 tornado struck Lane City, pushing two farmhouses off their foundations. It caused $2,500 in damages. [3]

Lane City has a post office with the ZIP code 77453. [4]

Geography

Lane City is situated on Texas State Highway 60 on the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway, 10 mi (16 km) southeast of Wharton and 15 mi (24 km) north of Bay City in southeastern Wharton County. It is also three miles east of the Colorado River. [5]

Education

Lane City had its own school in 1909. In 1948, a school consolidation election failed, but students from Lane City were allowed to attend Wharton High School, as Lane City had no high school teachers. It joined the Wharton Independent School District in 1957. [2]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rio Grande</span> Major river forming part of the US–Mexico border

The Rio Grande in the United States or the Río Bravo in Mexico is one of the principal rivers in the southwestern United States and in northern Mexico. The length of the Rio Grande is 1,896 miles (3,051 km), making it the 4th longest river in the United States and in North America by main stem. It originates in south-central Colorado, in the United States, and flows to the Gulf of Mexico. The Rio Grande drainage basin (watershed) has an area of 182,200 square miles (472,000 km2); however, the endorheic basins that are adjacent to and within the greater drainage basin of the Rio Grande increase the total drainage-basin area to 336,000 square miles (870,000 km2).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Matagorda County, Texas</span> County in Texas, United States

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ogallala Aquifer</span> Water table aquifer beneath the Great Plains in the United States

The Ogallala Aquifer is a shallow water table aquifer surrounded by sand, silt, clay, and gravel located beneath the Great Plains in the United States. As one of the world's largest aquifers, it underlies an area of approximately 174,000 sq mi (450,000 km2) in portions of eight states. It was named in 1898 by geologist N. H. Darton from its type locality near the town of Ogallala, Nebraska. The aquifer is part of the High Plains Aquifer System, and resides in the Ogallala Formation, which is the principal geologic unit underlying 80% of the High Plains.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Louise, Texas</span> CDP in Texas, United States

Louise is a census-designated place (CDP) in southwestern Wharton County, Texas, United States. Louise started as a station on a newly built railroad in 1881. The area soon proved especially suited for rice growing. Other crops were successful and oil and gas were produced in the area. The population peaked in 1960, then declined, then rose again. Louise operates its own school district.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wharton, Texas</span> City in Texas, United States

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.

Sheridan is an unincorporated community in Colorado County, Texas, United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Economy of Colorado</span>

In 2021, the economy of the State of Colorado was 16th largest in the United States with a gross state product of $421 billion.Colorado's per capita personal income in 2019 was $61,157, putting Colorado 12th in the nation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Texas Irrigation Canals</span>

Texas has many irrigation canals with the majority of large canal networks in the Rio Grande Valley and the Gulf Coast, though smaller systems are located throughout the state. Canals provide water to dry climates to irrigate crops.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway</span> Former railway company

The Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway was a subsidiary of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway. From its starting point in Galveston, Texas, the railroad eventually extended northwestwards across the state to Sweetwater and northwards via Fort Worth to Purcell, Oklahoma.

Joseph Eloi Broussard was a pioneer rice grower and miller in southeast Texas. He was born and grew up near Beaumont, Texas. In 1892 he converted a grist mill into the Beaumont Rice Mill, the first commercially successful rice mill in the state of Texas. He also established an irrigation company to create an irrigation system to support rice agriculture.

Mosida is a ghost town located on the southwestern shore of Utah Lake, in Utah County, Utah, United States. The nearest inhabited town is Elberta, some 12 miles (19 km) to the south. A heavily promoted planned community in the 1910s, Mosida was ultimately a failure.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Caney Creek (Matagorda Bay)</span> River in Texas, US

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.

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yuma Project</span> U.S. Bureau of Reclamation project

The Yuma Project is a U.S. Bureau of Reclamation project built to irrigate over 68,000 acres (280 km2) of land in Yuma County, Arizona and parts of Imperial County, California. The project is designed to exploit year-round farming conditions and water from the Colorado River. It consists of the Laguna Diversion Dam, pumping plants, a power plant, a 53-mile (85 km) system of canals, 218 miles (351 km) of lateral canals, levees and drains. The project began in 1903 and the majority of the work was completed by 1915. It was the first dam and reclamation project on the Colorado River and workers had to overcome many natural and logistical obstacles to build and maintain it. The Laguna Diversion Dam was replaced by the Imperial Dam as the Project's water source between 1941 and 1948. Today, it serves 275 farms and over 94,000 people.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nottawa, Texas</span> Ghost town in Texas, United States

Nottawa is a ghost town in northeastern Wharton County, in the U.S. state of Texas. The former community was situated in a rice-growing area midway between East Bernard and Lissie at the junction of U.S. Route 90 Alternate (US 90A) and Farm to Market Road 1164 (FM 1164). There was a gas compressor station on the site in 2016.

Magnet is an unincorporated community in southeastern Wharton County, Texas, United States. The rural community is situated at the intersection of State Highway 60 (SH 60) and County Road 102, a short distance north of the Matagorda County line. Magnet is identified by road signs on SH 60 and by a tall broadcasting tower. According to the Handbook of Texas, the community had a population of 42 in 2000. it is located within the Greater Houston metropolitan area.

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cane Belt Railroad</span>

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Texas rice production</span>

Rice production in Texas began in 1853 in southeast Texas. By 1903, the acres of cultivated rice in Texas was second only to Louisiana and together accounted for 99 percent of rice production in United States. While other states have surpassed Texas in rice production, it remains a significant Texas crop into the foreseeable future.

References

  1. 1 2 U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Lane City, Texas
  2. 1 2 Lane City, TX from the Handbook of Texas Online
  3. ↑ "Texas Event Report: F2 Tornado". NCDC. National Climatic Data Center. Retrieved July 1, 2020.
  4. ↑ USPS – Cities by ZIP Code
  5. ↑ "Lane City, Texas". Texas Escapes Online Magazine. Retrieved March 27, 2023.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.