Cortes, Texas, Matagorda County ghost town. (original) (raw)

History in a Pecan Shell

This lost town was between Markham and the Colorado River alongside the tracks of the railroad.

The history of Cortes is linked to that of Markham. The Cortes post office was moved to Markham in 1903 and renamed in 1903. Both towns appear on the 1920 map (above).

The namesake was H. W. Cortes, who, as president of the Moore-Cortes Canal Company had his headquarters here.

Cortes peaked around 1903 with the depot, post office and a hotel making up most of the communities business district.

By the 1930s, Cortes was dropped from the state highway map.

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