Historical Markers in Port Lavaca, Texas

Calhoun County · 1936

Calhoun County, Formed from Victoria, Jackson, and Matagorda Counties, Created April 4, 1846, Organized July 13, 1846, Named in Honor of Joyn Caldwell Calhoun, 1782-1850, a Distinguished Southern Statesman, A Member of…

Jefferson Beaumont · 1936

In whose honor Jefferson County, Texas was named Chief Justice of Calhoun County 1848-1856. Born in Kentucky March 12, 1801 died July 25, 1865.

Site of the Town of Linnville · 1936

An early Texas port named for John Joseph Linn 1798-1885 A pioneer merchant of Victoria who located his warehouse here in 1831 Around this a settlement grew up which was destroyed by Comanche Indians on August 8, 1840…

Sylvanus Hatch · 1936

Born in Massachusetts June 1, 1788, died Oct. 16, 1885. His wife Phamelia Louisa Nicholson Hatch. Born in Mississippi, January 21, 1788, died February 22, 1850.

Grace Episcopal Church · 1965

Records indicate Episcopal worship services were held in Lavaca prior to the 1850s. By 1852 the Rev. Henry N. Pierce, rector of Christ Church in Matagorda, periodically came to conduct services here. The Rev. C. S.…

Calhoun County · 1966

Formed from Jackson, Matagorda, and Victoria counties; created April 4, 1846 - organized July 13, 1846. Named in honor of John Caldwell Calhoun 1782-1850. A distinguished southern statesman, a member of Congress and of…

Moses Johnson, M.D. · 1975

Born in Virginia and educated in New Hampshire, Dr. Moses Johnson lived in Illinois before moving to Port Lavaca about 1837 and then to Austin in 1840. A physician and an active Mason, he also served as mayor of Austin…

Moses Johnson, M.D. · 1975

(1808-1853) Born in Virginia, Dr. Moses Johnson settled in Port Lavaca about 1837. After moving to Austin in 1840 to practice medicine, he was elected city alderman and then mayor. An active Mason, he served as Grand…

Ranger Cemetery · 1975

The oldest known grave here is that of Major H. Oram Watts, the customs collector at Linnville and casualty of a Comanche raid on that nearby settlement, Aug. 8, 1840. The site was called Ranger Cemetery after the…

San Antonio and Mexican Gulf Railroad · 1979

Chartered in 1850, the San Antonio & Mexican Gulf Railroad was one of the first railroads in Texas. San Antonio investors hoped it would open trade from the Gulf. As the line was built westward from Port Lavaca, wagons…

Half Moon Reef Lighthouse · 1980

Constructed in 1858, this three-story hexagonal lighthouse was originally located in Matagorda Bay, at the southern tip of Half Moon reef. The beacon served as an aid to ships trading in Port Lavaca and the nearby town…

Mt. Sinai Baptist Church · 1980

Organized at Indianola (14 miles SE) in 1870, this church is one of the oldest black fellowships in Calhoun County. The first pastor was the Rev. Joseph Whitlock, an elder in the white Baptist congregation of the city.…

Lavaca Lodge No. 36, A.F. & A.M. · 1985

The first Masonic lodge in Calhoun County was chartered as Lavaca Lodge No. 36 in 1848. After a period of inactivity during and after the Civil War, the Port Lavaca Lodge disbanded. The fraternal organization reappeared…

First Baptist Church of Port Lavaca · 1986

Organized in 1854 as the Lavaca Baptist Church, this congregation developed from area missionary efforts that began in the 1830s. The original church leaders were: Elder J. M. B. Haynie, pastor; Ammon Burr, clerk; and…

Indianola Cemetery · 1986

Many of the graves in this cemetery reflect the hardships encountered by residents of Indianola, one of Texas' leading 19th-century ports. The earliest marked grave is that of a child, William Woodward. His death…

Port Lavaca Cemetery · 1986

Burial in this historic cemetery began in the 1840s, with several mass graves dating from an 1849 cholera epidemic. Pioneer families and their descendants, as well as prominent state, county, and city officials, are…

Port Lavaca Chapter No. 373, Order of the Eastern Star · 1986

The first Port Lavaca Chapter of the Eastern Star, No. 171, began in 1894, but ended 5 years later. On May 10, 1907, a second dispensation was constituted for Port Lavaca Chapter No.373. Members of the earlier chapter…

Zimmerman Cemetery · 1986

The earliest marked grave in the Zimmerman Cemetery, that of Georchim Wedig, is dated 1852. In 1863, Wedig's daughter Katherine married John Gonzales (1838-1918), who had come to Indianola in 1858 with Joseph Mendez (d.…

Beach Hotel · 1991

Constructed in 1904 by local merchant and real estate agent C. U. Yancy, the Beach Hotel has been a part of the Port Lavaca landscape for generations. At the time of its construction, the hotel was the tallest building…

Saint Joseph Baptist Church · 1992

The Rev. John Nelson organized a congregation of the Free Will Baptist Church (Free Mission Baptist Church) in the coastal town of Indianola in 1872. Three years later, a devastating hurricane struck the Texas Gulf…

Civil War Bombardment of Port Lavaca · 1998

As part of the U. S. naval initiative to control Texas Confederate ports, the gunboats "Clifton" and "Westfield" turned to the town then known as Lavaca after easily taking Galveston and Indianola. On October 31, 1862,…

Civil War Torpedo Works · 1998

In February 1863, local inventor E. G. Singer developed and tested a torpedo with a unique spring action ignition system on the shores of Lavaca Bay. With nine other Lavaca citizens including Singer's financial partner…

First Presbyterian Church of Port Lavaca · 1998

Legend has it that the area's first Presbyterian church service was held in a local saloon in 1848. Eleven charter members soon began meeting with the Rev. A. Stephen F. Cocke in a warehouse also shared by the Methodist…

First United Methodist Church of Port Lavaca · 1998

The First Methodist Church of Port Lavaca was organized in 1841 by the Rev. Joseph P. Sneed of the Victoria circuit. By 1844 the Lavaca congregation had joined the newly formed Methodist Episcopal Church, South. Though…

Port Lavaca · 1998

Founded in the aftermath of a Comanche raid on the nearby settlement of Linville, the town of Lavaca ("the cow") was established in 1840. The busiest port in the Matagorda Bay area and a major center for over-land…

Six Mile Cemetery · 1998

The first known grave in Czech-German settlement on Marekville was that of Veranka Drgac (1817-1897). The five-acre graveyard was deeded to the Marekville cemetery association by the Phillips Investment Company in 1899.…

Six Mile Presbyterian Church · 1998

Worship services in the community that became known as Six Mile began as early as 1894, when traveling ministers such as the Rev. Anton Motycka and the Rev. Adolf Chlumsky conducted religious services once a month in…

Six Mile-Royal Community · 1998

The Phillips Investment Company issued deeds to the property on this site to Josef Marek and John Drgac in December 1894. The area, soon called Marekville, attracted Czech and German settlers with a bumper cotton crop…

Wiley George · 1998

(1797-1862) Born in North Carolina, Wiley George enlisted in the Georgia militia at the age of 17, fighting in the War of 1812, He lived in Georgia and Alabama and was married to Nancy Jones (d. 1834) before coming to…

Alsatian Immigration Through Lavaca Bay · 1999

Texas land empresario Henri Castro contracted to bring colonists of various European nationalities to Texas beginning in 1842. The first of these were Alsatians, most of whom spoke German and held German sympathies.…

Grace Episcopal Church · 1999

Calhoun County Hurricanes · 2001

Severe storms with high winds, heavy rains and tidal surges, hurricanes have played a significant role in events that shaped Calhoun County's history. Entire towns, including Indianola (a key Gulf seaport and Calhoun…

Our Lady of the Gulf Catholic Church · 2001

Our Lady of the Gulf Catholic Church The Rev. Augustine Gardet offered the first mass for Roman Catholics in Port Lavaca in 1857 at the R. D. Blossom home. The first church building, constructed in 1865 and destroyed in…

Salem Lutheran Church · 2001

Early membership in Salem Lutheran church reflected the German Lutheran population that immigrated to Texas through the nearby port of Indianola and the port of Galveston in the 19th century. Members of the Kemper,…

Alice O. Wilkins School · 2002

Alice O. Wilkins School Early education for African American students in Port Lavaca dates from the late nineteenth century and a one-room school run by James Choice. The Rev. A.K. Black, a Baptist pastor, later led the…

Clark Cemetery · 2009

This burial ground served members of the Clark family, many of whom lived in the no longer extant Chocolate Community. Named for the Chocolate Creek, which runs nearby, the settlement began when Sylvanus Hatch purchased…

Hatch Cemetery · 2009

This cemetery served the Hatch family and other members of the former community of Chocolate. Captain Sylvanus Hatch, founder of the settlement, was born in Falmouth, Massachusetts on June 1, 1788. He became a…

Indianola Cemetery · 2010

From Port Lavaca, take FM 238 s/SW 3 miles to FM 316 &follow about 8.75 miles to Brighton Rd. in Indianola. Follow Brighton Road NW about 1 mile then go WE on Comal Rd. .5 mile, and then Orleans St. .25 mile to cemetery.

Zimmerman Cemetery · 2010

3 mi. SW on FM 238, then 7.25 mi. S on FM 316 to roadside area

Calhoun County Participation During World War II · 2012

Before World War II, Calhoun County was primarily involved in farming, ranching and commercial seafood but after the attack on Pearl Harbor, the county became a major participant in the war effort. In November 1940,…

Sgt. William Henry Barnes · 2012

On March 3, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln signed an act calling for all able-bodied men to join the National Forces. William Barnes joined the union army the following February. He was stationed in Norfolk, Virginia…

The Chihuahua Road · 2012

THE CHIHUAHUA ROAD BETWEEN 1844 AND 1887, INDIANOLA GREW TO BECOME A COSMOPOLITAN PORT CITY THAT WAS SECOND ONLY TO GALVESTON. INDIANOLA BECAME A PORT FOR TRADE AND WAS THE EASTERN TERMINUS OF THE CHIHUAHUA ROAD THAT…

Don Martin De Leon · 2013

After independence from Spain, Mexico utilized the Empresario System to settle the province of Texas with loyal citizens. Seeing his opportunity, Don Martin de Leon applied on April 8, 1824, to the provincial delegation…

Dr. Edward Fred Knipling · 2013

Prior to Dr. Knipling’s work, livestock production in North America was plagued by enormous losses each year due to infestations of cochliomyia hominivorax, commonly known as the screwworm fly. Edward F. Knipling was…

Howard Gallemore Hartzog, Sr. · 2013

In the mid-twentieth century, Calhoun County was beginning an unprecedented period of growth. Howard G. Hartzog, Sr. was an active community leader who guided the county as a private citizen, county judge and as a state…

The Battle of Norris Bridge · 2014

In November of 1863, in the midst of the Civil War, the Union Army arrived in Calhoun County. Union and Texas troops rarely met on the field of Battle in Texas, as most of the war was concentrated in the east and south…

Cotton Gins of Calhoun County · 2016

After Texas was annexed into the United States in 1846, part of what was once De Leon’s Colony was organized as Calhoun County, giving the county access to valuable cropland and bays—the most important being modern-day…

Kamey Community · 2017

John William McKamey (1878-1955) was born in Salem, Arkansas, to John Samuel Monroe and Sarah Rebecca McKamey. John’s family valued education and moved four times in order for John to graduate from Baylor University…