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Islands in Eagle
Lake
Photo Courtesy Nesbitt Memorial Library # 01682 |
History in
a Pecan Shell
Like Gertrude
Stein said about Oakland (California, not the
Texas town in Colorado County) - "When you get there, there's
no there there." If you're traveling to Eagle Lake expecting to
see a lake - you might want to bring a tall step ladder. There is
indeed a (1,400 acre) lake there - and it is indeed called Eagle
Lake, but it's private property. A smaller lake called Lower Lake
sits below Eagle Lake - also privately owned.
The town dates from 1821 when scouts of Stephen
F. Austin reportedly killed an eagle here. There's also a colorful
legend about an Indian chief's daughter and two handsome suitors,
but it sounds fanciful when compared to the more probable naming
by Austin's scouts.
In March of 1838 land along the lake was granted to one Patrick
Reels. Two others held previously issued grants along the lakeshore.
In the 1850s Gamaliel Good acquired most of the land and then sold
600 acres to DeWitt Clinton Harris, who sat on the board of the
Buffalo Bayou, Brazos and Colorado Railway.
The two became partners and planned a town here. Situated between
Austin and prsent-day
Houston, it couldn't
miss. The railroad arrived just prior to the Civil War. After the
war, when the railroads were expanding all over the state, Eagle
Lake became a railroad crossroads. The Cane Belt, San Antonio and
Aransas Pass, Southern Pacific and later the Santa Fe all had a
presence in Eagle Lake. The Santa Fe depot still stands - as a privately
owned building.
Sugarcane was a cash crop after the Civil War and the planting of
rice was introduced in the 1890s. The mills have been long gone,
but grain elevators and rice dryers are still present - although
several are vacant. The town remains popular with hunters who come
for the ducks and geese.
Eagle Lake Vintage Photos
›
Eagle Lake Today - Photo Gallery
›
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Eagle Lake
Vintage Photos:
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Parade Float
in downtown Eagle Lake
Photo Courtesy Nesbitt Memorial Library # 01619 |
"The Baby Eagles"
Rhythm Band c. 1941
Photo Courtesy The Nesbitt Memorial Library #01950 |
Eagle Lake High
School Band
Photo Courtesy Nesbitt Memorial Library # 1707 |
First Day of
School 1935
Photo Courtesy Nesbitt Memorial Library # 01793 |
Eagle Lake Rod
and Gun Club "Courtesy Vehicle"
Photo Courtesy Nesbitt Memorial Library # 01629 |
Alligators c1910
Photo
Courtesy Nesbitt Memorial Library # 01204
See Texas Animals |
Rice Milling
Co.
Photo Courtesy Nesbitt Memorial Library # 00211 |
Historical Marker:
Main & Commerce Sts., Eagle Lake
Rice Culture
in Colorado County
The rice industry
did not spread into the coastal plains region west of Houston
until the very end of the 19th century. In 1898, Captain William Dunovant
(1845-1902), a local plantation owner and entrepreneur, planted 40
acres of rice at the southeast corner of Eagle Lake (2.5 miles south)
as an experiment, using convict labor from a nearby prison farm to
construct levees and harvest the new crop. The small tract produced
such encouraging results that in 1899 Dunovant built a pumping plant
on the lake and irrigated 250-300 acres. The second venture proved
so successful that over 30,000 acres of rice were under cultivation
in the Colorado River Valley in 1900, and over 56,000 acres in 1901,
mostly in Colorado
County.
Rice quickly replaced cotton and
sugar cane as the primary cash crop in Colorado
County. That the crop had a widespread economic impact was reflected
in the increase in property values, the influx of new families, the
reclamation of abandoned croplands, the rise in new railroad construction,
and the rapid development of allied service industries, such as rice
mills and irrigation and canal companies. Rice and the culture it
supports continue to be a major economic factor in Colorado
County.
1974 |
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Eagle Lake Depot
Museum
Photo
courtesy Ken Stavinoha, May 2016
More Texas Museums
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Eagle Lake
Depot Museum
The former Santa Fe Depot in Eagle Lake now houses a museum.
This is an updated image of the restored building.
- Ken Stavinoha, www.eaglelakedepot.org, November 24, 2016 |
"Abandoned,
but still standing in November, 1996, Tower 115 in Eagle Lake sits
silently as an eastbound Southern Pacific freight rumbles by on the
Sunset Route headed for Houston. The tower was razed shortly after
this photo was taken." -
Photo
courtesy Jim King
See Railroad
Interlocking Towers of Texas |
| Texas
Escapes, in its purpose to preserve historic, endangered and vanishing
Texas, asks that anyone wishing to share their local history, stories,
landmarks and recent or vintage photos, please contact
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