Flatonia Texas history, attractions, landmarks, cemetery, photos, road trip nearby towns, hotels & more. (original) (raw)
Flatonia Bird's Eye View, 1881
Click on image to enlarge
Courtesy Amon Carter Museum
Historical Marker
(on Main Square, 0.1 mile E of Intersection of Hwy 90 & NE Main, Flatonia.)
FLATONIA
Market town for rich agricultural area, on one of this state's earliest railroads (chartered 1841 by the Republic of Texas).
Situated on land granted in 1840s to rancher William A. Faires. Germans began to settle here in 1860s, and soon needed a shipping point for their products. Sailing master Friedrich Wilhelm Flato (1820-1899) and his wife Sophie, of the German Colony, had a store about 2 miles south of here. In the 1870s, Czech immigrants arrived, and the Galveston, Harrisburg & San Antonio Railroad (delayed by Civil War, 1861-65) was built to this point. John Cline, F. W. Flato, John Lattimore, and railroad president T. W. Pierce founded Flatonia on Oct. 16, 1873, naming it for the Flato family. At the same time, adjacent landowners Anton Freytag and James Faires platted Freytag and Faires' additions to the town. Post office opened in 1874.
Town was incorporated Nov. 8, 1875. Soon it had churches, a school, cotton gins, a newspaper (The Flatonia "Argus"), a cottonseed oil mill, and other businesses. A casino was built for political gatherings, dances, dramas, and other uses. In 1886, a second railroad, the San Antonio & Aransas Pass, reached here. Throughout its first century, the town has remained industrious, thrifty, and stable.
1973
Flatonia Landmarks
& Photo Gallery
Old post office wall mural showing train & switch tower
Photo courtesy Bill Trevillion, February 2015
Intersection showing railroad crossing & switch tower
TE Photo, 2003
A railroad town with a spacious median between main streets and the last switching tower left in Texas. The tower was saved from demolition through the efforts of Flatonians Martha and Arnold Tauch. Exceptional museum, rock buildings, and a Theater named The Lyric. Flatonia also has many antique shops and the town namesake's gravesite.
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Arnold Tauch Sr Photo courtesy Flatonia Chamber of Commerce |
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Central Texas Rail History Center
104 E. South Main St.
Photo courtesy Bill Trevillion, February 2015
Lyric Theater grand reopening on April 7, 2017
Photo courtesy James Longmire
The 1886 Arnim & Lane Building
TE Photo, 2002
Arnim & Lane Building vintage photo
Courtesy Flatonia Chamer of Commerce
More Texas Then & Now
L - Arnim as a young man
R - Arnim as an old man
Courtesy Flatonia Chamer of Commerce
Lane
Courtesy Flatonia Chamer of Commerce
The 1901 Former Post Office Building
Photo courtesy John J. Germann, February 2015
M. Fernay Book Store 1887 Tile Sign
TE Photo, 2003
Cast Iron Building Threshold
TE Photo, 2003
Sea Level Marker
TE Photo, 2003
Former Jail in Flatonia
TE Photo, 2002
More Texas Jails
Flatonia SAAP Freight Depot
TE Photo, 2002
More Texas Depots
Crossed Tracks
TE Photo, 2002
Newspaper Racks
TE Photo, 2003
Flatonia Masonic Lodge
TE Photo, 2003
Dove On Church Steeple
TE Photo, 2003
Mockingbird on Old Spanish Trail sign
TE Photo, 2002
See Birds in Texas
Tin buildings
TE Photo, 2002
Friendly Tavern
TE Photo, 2003
Flatonia water tower and approaching train
Photo courtesy Kathryn L. Geesaman
More Texas Water Towers
Flatonia Cemetery
Photographer's Note:
"Flatonia is really a neat town with a goodly amount of pride in its history... You mentioned that the community of Flatonia actually started about two miles south(east), which it did in 1870. The community was there long enough before it moved to the railroad to have established both a post office and a cemetery. The post office building is, of course, long gone but the cemetery is still there. Here are two photos - one of the "Old Flatonia" cemetery and one of a prominent tombstone therein." - John J. Germann, October 12, 2018
Flatonia Cemetery - Tombstone with open bible
TE Photo, 2002
More Flatonia Attractions & Events
The Arnim Museum
101 E. North Main St.
361-865-3455
arnimmuseum.org
Central Texas Rail History Center
104 E. South Main St.
Open by appointment. 979-743-5366
Czhilispiel, last full weekend in October.
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Onions awaiting Czhilispiel TE Photo |
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The "Real Thing" in Flatonia, Signed by "Eddie and Monk" in December 1966 TE Photo, November 2003 |
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Flatonia Chronicles
- Flatonia's Newspaper, The Argus, was first printed in 1875, but has joined the ranks of the high-school sports-and-grocery-ad school of journalism.
- The Great Flatonia Train Robbery by Murry Montgomery
- The Day the Elephant died in Flatonia
Told to the Editor by Flatonia Historian George Koudelka
Sometime way back when the 20th Century was spanking new, a circus stopped in Flatonia.
The name has been lost, but they were indeed a circus � and had (at least one elephant) to prove it.
For readers fortunate enough to have visited Flatonia, you may remember that the town is bisected by the railroad tracks - with large open spaces separating the two rows of storefronts from the tracks. Some of this is paved now; but it was once lush greenery (except in the Texas summer when it became crisp brownery). Here's the story › - California Jim by Mike Cox
"One of Texas' meaner if little-known hard cases, California Jim died of sudden onset Winchester disease one summer day in 1882..."
Take a road trip
12 miles east on Hwy 90 to Schulenburg
12 miles west on Hwy 90 to Waelder
21 miles north on FM 609 to LaGrange
26 miles north on Hwy 95 to Smithville
19 miles south on Hwy 95 to Shiner with a stop at Moulton, then take Hwy 90Alt 18 miles west to Gonzales, or 15 miles east to HallettesvilleFlatonia Chamber of Commerce
208 E. North Main * P.O. Box 610 Flatonia TX 78941
Phone (361) 865-3920
website: http://www.flatoniachamber.com/
Fayette County 1907 postal map showing railroads crossing Flatonia
From Texas state map #2090
Courtesy Texas General Land Office
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