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POTEET,
TEXAS
Atascosa County,
South Texas
FM 476 and Highway 16
20 Miles S of San Antonio
Population:
3305 (2000) 3,206 (1990)
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| Photo
courtesy Terry Jeanson, May 2005 |
History in
a Pecan Shell
Poteet was named after local blacksmith / postmaster Francis Marion
Poteet. The post office opened in 1886 and by 1892 the town had most
basic businesses, including a gin, gristmill, and wagonmaker. In the
mid 1890s Henry T. Mumme arrived, opened a store and succeeded Poteet
as postmaster.
Mumme discovered artesian wells in the area in 1902 - even while the
region was suffering from a drought. When the Artesian Belt Railroad
was building through the area the Mummes donated land to the railroad
(three miles southwest of the original site) and built a new store
alongside the railroad.
Having irrigation from the wells, Mumme planted strawberries and the
rest, as they say, is history. A three-day strawberry festival was
first held in 1948 and is now an annual event (although the strawberries
are shipped in from California).
From a population of 500 in 1914 Poteet grew to 2,300 after oil was
discovered nearby in the 1940s. From the 1970s, the population stabilized
around the 3,000 mark - peaking in the late 1980s at 3,519 and then
declining to 3,206 for the 1990 census. |
| Photo
courtesy Terry Jeanson, May 2005 |
Poteet
Fire Department
Photo courtesy Terry Jeanson, May 2005 |
Closed
store next to City Hall on Avenue H
Photo courtesy Terry Jeanson, May 2005 |
Tile
mosaic in front of fire department by artist Milton Caniff.
Photo courtesy Terry Jeanson, May 2005 |
1930s
Poteet store
Photo courtesy Library of Congress |
Poteet
Realtor
1930s Photo courtesy Library of Congress |
Poteet
Historical Markers and Plaques
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Poteet
historical marker in front of the post office.
Photo courtesy Terry Jeanson, May 2005 |
| Memorial
in front of the fire department, dedicated by Poteet family descendants,
to Frances Marion and Mary Ann Poteet and their family. Photo courtesy
Terry Jeanson, May 2005 |
Center
plaque on Poteet family memorial.
Photo courtesy Terry Jeanson, May 2005 |
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