Weldon, Texas | |
|---|---|
  Weldon  Weldon | |
| Coordinates: 31°01′18″N95°34′17″W / 31.02167°N 95.57139°W | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Texas |
| County | Houston |
| Elevation | 249 ft (76 m) |
| Population (2000) | |
• Total | 131 |
| Time zone | UTC-6 (Central (CST)) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC-5 (CDT) |
| ZIP code | 75835 |
| GNIS feature ID | 1371008 [1] |
Weldon is an unincorporated community in Houston County, Texas, United States. According to the Handbook of Texas,[ citation needed ] the community had a population of 131 in 2000.
The Weldon area was settled sometime after the Civil War. A post office was established at Weldon in 1869. The community became a lumber town when the Waco, Beaumont, Trinity and Sabine Railway built a track through the settlement in the 1880s. With 150 residents in 1885, the community's businesses consisted of saw and gristmills, a cotton gin, two general stores, a drugstore, and a meat market. It continued to be a successful community in the 1910s and 1920s and by the 1930s, the population grew to 200 and still had several businesses. It plunged to 80 by 1950, then grew to 131 from 1990 through 2000. [2]
On May 11, 2021, an EF0 tornado struck Weldon. [3]
The Beaumont and Great Northern Railroad operated an orphan line from Livingston to Weldon. [4]
Weldon is located on Farm to Market Road 230, 21 mi (34 km) south of Crockett in southern Houston County. [2]
The community's first school opened in either the 1870s or 1880s. [2] Weldon is served by the Lovelady Independent School District.
On July 14, 1945, a USAAF North American TB-25C (trainer variant) suffering apparent engine trouble crashed one mile northwest of Weldon, killing 11 passengers and crew. The airplane exploded into flames upon impact with the ground, scattering wreckage over an area of 400 yards. [5]
The Tuskegee Airmen was a group of primarily African American military pilots and airmen who fought in World War II. They formed the 332nd Fighter Group and the 477th Bombardment Group (Medium) of the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF). The name also applies to the navigators, bombardiers, mechanics, instructors, crew chiefs, nurses, cooks, and other support personnel. The Tuskegee airmen received praise for their excellent combat record earned while protecting American bombers from enemy fighters. The group was awarded three Distinguished Unit Citations.
Beaumont is a city in the U.S. state of Texas. It is the seat of government of Jefferson County, within the Beaumont–Port Arthur metropolitan statistical area, located in Southeast Texas on the Neches River about 85 miles (137 km) east of Houston. With a population of 115,282 at the 2020 census, Beaumont is the largest municipality by population near the Louisiana border. Its metropolitan area was the 10th largest in Texas in 2020, and 130th in the United States.
Apple Springs is an unincorporated community in Trinity County, Texas, United States. According to the Handbook of Texas, the community had a population of 185 in 2000. It is located within the Huntsville, Texas micropolitan area.
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Neches is an unincorporated community and census designated place (CDP) in east central Anderson County, in the U.S. state of Texas. According to the Handbook of Texas, the community had a population of 175 in 2000. It is located within the Palestine, Texas micropolitan area.
Iola is a city in Grimes County, Texas, United States, on Farm to Market Road 39 and the Burlington-Rock Island Railroad, at the headwaters of Ragan Creek in northwestern Grimes County. As of the 2020 census the population was 311.
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Clodine is an unincorporated community in Fort Bend County, Texas, United States. According to the Handbook of Texas, the community had a population of 31 in 1990. It is located in the Greater Houston metro area.
The Beaumont, Sour Lake and Western Railway was an 85-mile (137 km) railroad that ran from Beaumont, Texas to Gulf Coast Junction in Houston. It passed through small southeast Texas communities such as Hull, Kenefick, and Huffman. As part of the Gulf Coast Lines system, the road was eventually merged into the Missouri Pacific Railroad in 1956, which in turn was merged into the Union Pacific Railroad in 1982. The Union Pacific still makes heavy use of the route.
The Galveston Bay Area, also known as Bay Area Houston or simply the Bay Area, is a region that surrounds the Galveston Bay estuary of Southeast Texas in the United States, within Houston–The Woodlands–Sugar Land metropolitan area. Normally the term refers to the mainland communities around the bay and excludes Galveston as well as most of Houston.
Sacul is an unincorporated community in Nacogdoches County, Texas, United States. According to the Handbook of Texas, the community had an estimated population of 170 in both 1990 and 2000.
Bleiblerville is an unincorporated community in northern Austin County, Texas, United States. According to the Handbook of Texas, its population was 71 in 2000. It is located within the Greater Houston metropolitan area.
Umbarger is a census-designated place in Randall County, Texas, United States. According to the Handbook of Texas, the community had an estimated population of 327 in 2000. The community is part of the Amarillo, Texas Metropolitan Statistical Area.
The Texas oil boom, sometimes called the gusher age, was a period of dramatic change and economic growth in the U.S. state of Texas during the early 20th century that began with the discovery of a large petroleum reserve near Beaumont, Texas. The find was unprecedented in its size (worldwide) and ushered in an age of rapid regional development and industrialization that has few parallels in U.S. history. Texas quickly became one of the leading oil-producing states in the U.S., along with Oklahoma and California; soon the nation overtook the Russian Empire as the top producer of petroleum. By 1940 Texas had come to dominate U.S. production. Some historians even define the beginning of the world's Oil Age as the beginning of this era in Texas.
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Lawrence is an unincorporated community in Kaufman County, located in the U.S. state of Texas. According to the Handbook of Texas, the community had a population of 279 in 2000. It is located within the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex.
Theodore P. Johnson, Jr. was an American military serviceman who served during World War II and was a Documented Original Tuskegee Airman.
Sgt. Major Thomas Ellis from San Antonio, Texas, was a member of the famed group of World War II-era African-Americans known as the Tuskegee Airmen. He served in the 301st Fighter Squadron and the 332nd Fighter Group during WWII.
Graham "Peepsight" Smith † was an U.S. Army Air Force officer and combat fighter pilot with the 332nd Fighter Group's 99th Fighter Squadron, best known as the Tuskegee Airmen. He was a member of Tuskegee Airmen's fourth-ever aviation cadet program and one of the 1,007 documented Tuskegee Airmen Pilots.
Municipalities and communities of Houston County, Texas, United States | ||
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| Cities |  | |
| Unincorporated communities |
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| Ghost towns | ||
| Footnotes | ‡This populated place also has portions in an adjacent county or counties | |