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History in
a Pecan Shell
Originally named Steiner's Settlement, after early German Carl Steiner.
The settlement dates from the 1850s and is included in what is known
collectively as "The Coleto Creek Communities." Over the years the
name was changed to Coletoville after the creek that borders the
communtity.
The town had
the envious position of being on the Old Goliad Road although that
fact didn't guarantee long-term prosperity. The community had a
Lutheran church by 1872 and a post office was granted three years
later. A two-acre site for the church and cemetery site was set
aside and today the cemetery (shown on the Victoria County TxDoT
map) is the best way to find the site of the community.
The post office was discontinued in 1877, and the village store
lasted only seven more years. The nearby town of Raisin
got the railroad when the Gulf, Western Texas and Pacific Railway
came through in 1889. The Goliad-Victoria road also bypassed Coletoville
and Raisin became the
dominant town. The communities are consided a merger by many since
they are only five miles apart. Together the population of Raisin-Coletoville
was only 50 throughout most of the Twentieth Century. Many descendents
of the early settlers continue to live in the area.
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