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History in
a Watersoaked Pecan Shell
Started
in 1846 as Indian Point, the town almost immediately entered
into a rivalry with Port
Lavaca. Lavaca had taken the role of leading port south of Galveston
after Linnville was burned by Comanches in 1840.
Indianola is Texas' Queen of ghost towns. While Thurber
(west of Ft. Worth) was nearly as colorful, Thurber's history had
to do with labor relations, immigrant miners, infrastructure, manufacturing
and railroading - while Indianola was a port of debarkation for the
thousands of European immigrants (plus a few boatloads of camels).
Today, they have only one thing in common - hardly any trace of either
town exists. |
Indianola
street scene
Photo courtesy texasoldphotos.com |
In
1845, thousands of Germans were stranded at Indianola because their
agents had gone broke. Disease claimed many lives on the shore, and
when others attempted to walk to their destinations of New
Braunfels and Fredericksburg,
they infected the established populace, causing hundreds of more deaths.
Many who couldn't finish their journey settled in the towns of Victoria,
Cuero
and Gonzales.
A storm hit the Texas coast in 1851. It was referred to as "The Great
Storm" until the bigger ones arrived.
During the Civil War, Indianola was occupied by the Union Army
and there were enough skirmishes to keep both sides occupied. After
the war "occupation" was peaceful and relations cordial. Discord would
stand in the way of business and in Indianola business was everyone's
interest.
As a port to rival New Orleans, Indianolia was well on its way. Ships
had started sailing directly from New York and New England. The New
England ships brought cargoes of ice - cut in the winter months. A
newspaper called the Indianola Bulletin had correspondents
as far inland as Wilson County (30 miles east of San Antonio).
Besides storms, a fire did damage in 1867 and the same year
brought a yellow fever epidemic. |
The first major hurricane to hit a fairly populated Indianola
was in 1875. Nearly all of the debris was used in rebuilding
a stronger and more secure city. The second storm of 1886 totally
demoralized Indianolans and forced them to move inland. In some cases
the few houses that were left standing were moved inland to places
as distant as Victoria,
Cuero
and even Gonzales.
The huge ice warehouse, second in size only to the courthouse, was
floated across the bay and converted into a residence. As one of the
few remaining buildings - it had proven its strength.
Indianolia could've rebuilt again, but the amount of silt and sand
blown in by the storm made the bay too shallow for the ships that
mattered.
Three railroads had Indianola in their name*
and had varying degrees of success. "Warehouse Row" - was Indianolia's
cash cow. Although the warehouses had different owners, they were
a select group of businessmen, which made for a near-monopoly. |
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Remains of the first La Salle monument near the Indianola Cemetery
Photo Courtesy Ralph Ware, May, 2004 |
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La Salle's
Statue
during WWII
Old Postcard |
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Beef: It's
what's for dinner - next year
Even prior to the Civil War, as early as 1848, companies
in Indianola were canning beef. Or shall we say they were experimenting
with the process. The initial test market was the shipping industry
since they needed food that wouldn't spoil on long voyages.
After the war, the glut of cattle made beef valueless. Cattle were
slaughtered for their hides and tallow and the meat was left to
rot. Experiments were conducted, equipment built and Indianola was
the first port to ship refrigerated beef to Eastern markets in 1869.
The reading of Indianola's history is rewarding both for its influence
on early Texas and for the drama and tragedy of its brief life.
© John Troesser
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Indianola
Remnants
by Mike Cox
Indianola, once the “Queen City of the West,” recovered from a killer
hurricane in 1875 but it did not survive a second devastating storm
in 1886.
Modern day visitors find few remnants of the once prosperous Calhoun
County seaport, but they’re looking in the wrong place. If you want
to see some of Indianola’s stately Victorian houses, just go to Victoria
or Cuero... more |
Indianola
Related Stories:
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*The Indianola
Railroad Company
Indianola and GuadalupeValley Railway
The Indianola, San Antonio and El Paso Railroad
First published July 2001 |
| Indianola
and Matagorda Island: 1837-1887 |
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| Indianola:
The Mother of Western Texas |
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