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The Post Office at Chapman Ranch
Photo by John Troesser |
| History
in a Cotton Boll:
In 1919, The King Ranch sold off over 34,000 acres
to Mr. Phillip Chapman. Chapman was already a landholder in Oklahoma and East
Texas. His son J.O. Chapman managed "Nueces Farms" as the tract was then
called.
After
dividing the land into 160 acre parcels, the land was leased to tenant farmers.
In 1924 Nueces
Farms became Chapman Ranch. |
| | The
only remaining business in the huge "Commissary" building
Photo by John
Troesser |
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The date 1925 can still be seen in the decorative details of the two schools
that stand solidly today.
A comically large building that once held an
automobile agency, grocery, post office, barber shop, hardware and other stores,
today contains only the post office. |
| Cotton
Production in Nueces County
With 20,000 acres in cultivation, the Ranch was billed as the world's largest
mechanized farm. Experiments
were conducted with both crops and machinery. Implements were introduced for improved
cotton production and even a specific strain of cotton was developed on the ranch.
|
| | Cotton
picker in action
Photo by John Troesser |
| | Picker
transferring cotton to hopper
Photo by John Troesser |
| | Hopper
unloading cotton into compactor
Photo by John Troesser |
| | The
compressed bale after being compacted
Photo by John Troesser |
The
schools were consolidated with those in nearby Corpus Christi. The heirs of the
Chapman family continue to run the ranch and cotton is still the main crop. As
Corpus Christi continues to expand closer to the ranch, it remains a distinct
and separate town, however a very sparsely populated town. The idea behind Chapman
Ranch as a stand-alone co-operative operation - would've perhaps worked well in
other cotton producing parts of the state.
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©
John Troesser |
Chapman
Ranch Texas ForumMy
father Wayne Carroll and mother Geneva Carroll, origionally from Waxahachie, TX,
moved to the Ranch in November 1949. My father was a farmer farming Mrs. Berta
C Cunningham's land. Many of the farmers came from the north Texas areas where
the Chapman's already owned land. E. H. Kirkpatrick was one of the earliest farmers
to the ranch, along with the Rackley's. More from the north Texas area were Roland
Barns and Winston Johnston, Euel Prince, Max Gattling, and the Flyin' Dutchman
Dutch Kirkpatrick. One of the Post Masters for the Ranch was Mrs. Brown back in
the 50's. Mrs. Cunningham was the daughter of Mr. Chapman. Mrs. Cunningham had
one child Leita May Hight which in turn had two children Roger Hight and Roxanna
Hight. Most of the old timers are now gone. We lost Mr. Kirkpatrick is December
2004 and Harry Lee White in February 2005.
The ranch has changed forever
but it's still home even I don't live there any longer. For more history on the
ranch, please visit the Ranch Post Office where many newspaper articles are posted
on the walls of its history and residents. Also contact John Chapman, one of the
heirs of the ranch. - Martha Sue Carroll, February 16, 2005
Anyone
wishing to share stories, memories or photos of pre-1950 Chapman Ranch, Texas
- please contact
us
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