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SOMERSET,
TEXASBexar
County, South Texas
Highway 1604
15 Miles SW of San
Antonio
Population:
1,550 (2000)
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The
main street in Somerset
Photo courtesy Terry Jeanson, May 2007 |
History in a Pecan
Shell
Somerset dates from 1848 when it was located in Atascosa County
(3 miles south of it's present location). Original settlers were Baptist families
who had come from Somerset, Kentucky. The town relocated with the arrival of the
Artesian Belt Railroad in 1909.
In 1913 the Somerset oilfield was discovered
- which was declared to be the largest shallow field in the world. Two oil refineries
were built and the crude oil was pumped into San
Antonio. A post office was granted in 1920 and from a population of 50 in
1925, Somerset grew to 700 in three short years. After the boll
weevil infestation of the 1920s, farmers gave up on cotton and started fruit
and vegetable farming. Diminishing oil returns during the Great Depression sent
the town into a decline. By the late 50s there were only eight businesses left.
The population reached 1,000 in the late 1970s and has since increased to the
present 1,550. |
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Somerset
United Methodist Church
Photo courtesy Terry Jeanson, May 2007 |
St.
Mary's Catholic Church, currently undergoing a renovation
Photo courtesy Terry
Jeanson, May 2007 |
The
Old Rock Baptist Church just south of Somerset off FM 476
Photo courtesy Terry
Jeanson, May 2007 |
The
Old Rock Baptist Church Historical Marker
Photo courtesy Terry Jeanson, May
2007 |
Somerset
Bulldog
Photo courtesy Terry Jeanson, May 2007 | |
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