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PAWNEE,
TEXASBee County,
South Texas
FMs 673 and 798
22 Miles NW of Beeville
Population: 201 (2000) |
| Catholic
Mission. TE photo, June 2004 |
Pawnee
History in a Pecan ShellThe
name is said to come from a board with the inscription "Pawnee" that someone had
nailed to a tree. Prior to the establishment of Bee County, an Irish family named
Sullivan bought much of the land where Pawnee now stands. After a series of transfers,
Rancher W. J. Lott became owner of the land and split his spread into smaller
parcels in the 1890s.
Pawnee's first school was built in 1910, about the
same time the first store opened. Pawnee prospered in the 1920s and at one time
had four grocery stores, a physican. druggist, blacksmith and garage. Oil was
discovered in 1930.
Pawnee's church history is more colorful than most
Texas towns of its size. For a small town, Pawnee had Baptist, Catholic, Church
of Christ, Swedish Lutheran, German Lutheran, Methodist, and Pentecostal congregations.
A brick school was build in 1936 and the population reached it's high-water mark
of 300 just as the United States was entering WWII.
The post war population was just 225 when the town was granted a post office around
1950. The town's businesses all closed prior to 1980. The population has declined
from the 1990 census of 249 to the current 201 residents.
Pawnee
Sights and Scenes |
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Photographer's Update:
Subject:
Pawnee, Texas
The old school will soon be adjoined or replaced by a new
school under constructuion. - Will
Beauchamp, April 2009 | |
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