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WINNIE,
TEXAS
Chambers County,
Gulf Coast / East Texas
Highway 124 and I-10
25 miles SW of Beaumont
Population: 2,914 (2000) 2,238 (1990)
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Old Neon
in Winnie
Photo by John Troesser |
History
in a Seashell
Although it sounds like a woman's name, Winnie was actually named
after Fox Winnie, a railroad contractor. The Gulf and Inter-state
Railway was responsible for the town's birth. The town was laid out
and a post office opened in 1895.
A company started digging irrigation canals in 1899 and The Winnie
and Loan Improvement Company started selling plots. With a shortage
of buyers, the company folded by 1911. A hurricane in 1915 discouraged
further development and post-World War I rice prices dropped dramatically.
About the only abundant crop beside rice was the lowly fig. Several
processing plants were built and it was hoped that figs would be the
area's economic salvation. But America isn't exactly crazy over figs
- a fact that soon became apparent.
The area remained isolated - due to poor roads and the population
was a mere 200 persons through the 1920s.
Winnie and Stowell schools were consolidated
in 1931.
The Stowell oilfield was discovered in 1941 and oilman Glenn H. McCarthy
developed a gas plant nearby. It was wealth from this area that McCarthy
spent on building the Shamrock Hotel in Houston.
With the arrival of Interstate 10, Winnie's population grew - reaching
almost 1,200 in the 60's and rising to 2,500 by 1980.
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©
John Troesser
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