Collegeport, Matagorda County, TX history, landmarks, cemetery, photos & map. (original) (raw)
History in a Pecan Shell
There really was a college here - although it was the Gulf Coast University of Industrial Arts - a school that doesn't have a big alumni association. The college was established by the Hurd Ranch Company that was selling land in the area.
The town got a post office in 1909 and became a stop on the St. Louis, Brownsville and Mexico Railway in 1911.
The population was about 450 people around 1914. In 1924, a severe ice storm killed most of the cattle in the area. The population was about 200 in 1936. The school consolidations of the late 40s combined Collegeport's schools with the Palacios ISD. In the mid-60s the population had dropped to around 100, and it now is estimated at less than that.
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Palm tree and silos TE photo, 2001 |
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Collegeport now has the appearance of a ghost town. Some houses give the appearance of having been used in the past as summer homes, but it's unlikely that they're performing that function today. The largest home in the area is surrounded by a large chain-link fence and another appears to have had it's own small private golf course.
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Collegeport Vintage Photos ›
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A former pier at Collegeport
TE Photo, 2001
The cows don't get to see many people in Collegeport
TE Photo, 2001
Collegeport Vintage Photos
Subject: Collegeport Photos
"Two photos of my grandmother's brother who worked for the railroad around the turn of the century. I'm not sure the second photo is Collegeport. Several of the brothers worked for the railroad and were from Coleman County (Camp Colorado) area." - Dennis McDonald, May 04, 2007
Passengers and locomotive crew at Collegeport
Photo courtesy Dennis McDonald
Express Agent
Photo courtesy Dennis McDonald
Collegeport, Texas Forum
Your section on Collegeport shows a large 2-1/2 story white house with a red roof as an example of a circa 1900 home in Collegeport. A couple of weeks ago, three teenage boys from Palacios were severely burned in a fire which burned the entire house down in the early morning hours, and one boy died this past week. The cause of the fire is still under investigation.- Lynette Randall, August 18, 2003
A typical Gulf Coast house c. 1900
TE Photo, 2001
Matagorda County 1920s map showing Collegeport
on Tres Palacios Bay
From Texas state map #10749
Courtesy Texas General Land Office
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