| |
Hockley's
road less traveled
TE photo, 2007 |
History in a Pecan
Shell
Sam McCurley is credited with being the first settler here
– some seven years before the Texas Revolution. Not much is known about Mr. McCurley,
since it was George Washington Hockley (see
below) who established the town just prior
to hostilities. The Texas Army camped here in April of 1836.
The railroad
(the Houston and Texas Central) arrived in the Spring of 1857 and the following
year a post office was opened under the name of Houseville. This oversight was
soon corrected and the name changed to the founder, who had died just four years
previously. After the Civil War it was suggested that Hockley become the county
seat of a county with the same name, but the idea didn’t have enough support.
BY 1890 the population was nearly 300. Six years later the town was thriving
with a cooton gin, three stores and four saloons. In the 1920s the population
decreased to around 200 – remaining there through the 1940s. After WWII
the population rose to 300 – remaining there through the 2000 Census.
Although the Handbook of Texas lists 95 businesses in Hockley, a visit to the
densely-shaded community will show little evidence of such an economy. |
Hockley: The Man
George Washington Hockley, was born in Philadelphia in 1802. As a War Department
clerk in Washington D.C. he met (the future) Governor of Tennessee Sam Houston
who suggested that he relocate there. Hockley and Houston became friends and when
Houston came to Texas in 1835, he made Hockley his
chief of staff when he became commander-in-chief. Hockley was in charge of the
lengendary “Twin Sisters”
at the
battle of San Jacinto.
Houston appointed Hockley to several other
posts, including secretary of war (prior to statehood). Hockley also traveled
to Mexico as an emissary
of peace in 1843. Hockley did not live in his namesake town, but chose Galveston.
On a trip to visit Henry L. Kinney in Corpus
Christi, in June of 1854, Hockley died and was buried in Old
Bayview cemetery. The Texas Centennial
Commission Committee erected a marker at his gravesite in 1936. |
Quonset
Hut
TE photo, 2007 | |
|
