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Sargent, Matagorda
CountyPhotographer's
Note
The map show
Sargent as about six miles from the Gulf Coast but it is really little settled
areas all the way to the coast, ending with the side-swing bridge. Across the
Intercoastal Waterway has been almost completely eroded away in the last 50-60
years. The bridge operator told me there used to be a lot of houses on the other
side. I talked with the operator for maybe thirty minutes but didn't get to see
the bridge swing. - Barclay
Gibson, August , 2009
History
in a Seashell |
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History in a Seashell:
Named after Englishman George Sargent, from Cornwall, England who settled near
here in 1834 and bought land near Caney Creek sometime later.
Caney
Creek had been navigable and Sargent, a rancher and cotton grower was able
to run the Union blockade to ship his beef and cotton.
The Sargent family survived the war and in 1875 George’s son John drove a herd
of 3,000 head all the way to Abilene.
During
John’s absence a hurricane struck (one of the ones that destroyed Indianola)
and although he was in time to save his children from the flood, both his father
and wife had drowned.
A post office opened in Sargent in 1912 and in the
mid 1920s the population was still a mere 23 people. Development of the area fell
on the shoulders of Abel B. Pierce of the Pierce Ranch who built a cotton gin
and housing units for his workers in 1930. Pierce had constructed the area’s first
roads a few years earlier.
By the eve of WWII,
Sargent had 80 residents served by four business. The post office closed sometime
in the mid 1940s but was back in operation by the mid 1980s. Sargent’s population
remained below 100 for the 1990 Census but has increased to 300 for the 2000 count.
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Sargent
Beach Texas Marker text
Photo courtesy Barclay
Gibson, February 2009 |
"Confederate
Defenses at the Mouth of Caney Creek" historical marker
Photo courtesy
Barclay
Gibson, February 2009 |
Sargent
"Where Caney Creek meets the Gulf"
Historic Places and Trails: |
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