Hobson, Texas, Karnes County. (original) (raw)

History in a Pecan Shell

During the railroad expansion in the 1890s, the San Antonio and Aransas Pass railroad built through Karnes County. It was then a town called Castine appeared alongside the tracks.

The community received a post office in 1898 and when Capt. Richmond Pearson Hobson made a speech at the depot, the town renamed itself after this hero of the short-lived Spanish American War in 1899.

Storekeeper R. J. Polasek hosted the post office in his store expanded his operations to include a gin, gristmill and lumberyard.

A brickyard soon joined other business in this German-Czech-Polish town and by 1915 it had a population of 150 people. It even had a doctor and (briefly) a hospital. Growth was slow and it wasn�t until 1950 that it reached its peak number of 175 residents.

By 1990 it was down to just 135 residents, but it still maintained a post office and other businesses. It remains the same in 2010's estimate.

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