Mudville, Texas, aka Steele's Store, Texas, Brazos County. (original) (raw)

History in a Pecan Shell

Although the popular poem "Casey at the Bat" mentions a town of Mudville - the name was not borrowed from the one in Texas.

This Mudville was settled as early as the 1860s and was named for it's most abundant natural resource. In 1878 a post office was opened in Henry Steele's store and the names Steele's Store and Mudville have been used interchangeably from the beginning.

In 1884 Steele's Store/ Mudville had an estimated population of 150 with another store beside Steele's and several other business. The population was mostly Black, but Italian immigrants also contributed to the population. In 1891 the Hearne and Brazos Valley Railway came through and by 1896 the population had swelled to 350.

The post office closed in 1950, and the school consolidated with Bryan ISD in the 1960s. The community is still included on TxDoT's county maps in 1998 although there is no visible town center.

The town received a historical marker in 1992.

Historical Marker

Steele's Store Community

Anglo settlement in this area can be traced to 1851. Henry B. Steele built a general merchandise store in 1855 to serve residents of the rural community, originally called Mudville because of frequent Brazos River floods. The store became the center of the community, and when a post office was established there in 1878 the settlement was renamed Steele's Store.

Italian immigrants, primarily from the provinces of Trapani and Palermo, began settling here in the 1870s. Many of the families established large farms, and by the early 20th Century the Italian community here was one of the largest in the United States. A one-room schoolhouse built in 1889 was later replaced with larger structures as the population grew. The school eventually was consolidated with the Brazos County Independent School District. Predominantly Roman Catholic, the settlement was served by priests from St. Anthony's Church in Bryan until 1903, when San Salvador Catholic Church was built. The church became the focal point of the community, with traditional Sicilian celebrations held each March to honor St. Joseph. Many descendants of the area's pioneer Italian families still reside in the vicinity.

1992

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