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Matagorda County TX
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HAWKINSVILLE, TEXAS


Texas Ghost Town
Matagorda County, Texas Gulf Coast

28° 53' 16" N, 95° 40' 11" W (28.887778, -95.669722)

Intersection of FM 2611 and FM 457
Not shown on county map
17 miles SE of Van Vleck
Between Sargent and Cedar Lane
Near Brazoria and Bay City
Population: Between 0 and Unknown

Book Hotel Here › Bay City Hotels

Hawkinsville Texas - restaurant
Restaurant
Photo courtesy Barclay Gibson, February 2009

History in a Pecan Shell

Named after early settler James Boyd Hawkins, who arrived here in the 1840s, Hawkinsville was in fact, a sugar plantation. It’s first name was Hawkin’s Post. In the early 1850s, Hawkins built a brick sugar mill – made of bricks fired in his own kiln. A substantial enterprise, the slave-built mill vented through a 40-foot smokestack. As Hawkins diversified into ranching, the town became the headquarter’s for Hawkin’s Ranch.

During the Civil War, John Magruder maintained a contingent of troops and supplies here from late 1963 through January 1864. The end of the war did not mean the end of Hawkin’s empire. He merely changed his labor force from salves to convicts.

In 1874 Hawkinsville was granted a post office but the population remained below 25 – into the 1880s. By 1888 the post office had closed but a new one under the name Hawkinsville opened in 1898.

In 1903 the NewYork, Texas and Mexican Railway ran a tap line from Bay City, roughly running parallel to present-day FM 457. The railroad increased the number of residents to around 100. In the 1930s the railroad tracks were taken up and Hawkinsville settled into a deep sleep that continues to this day.

Although there are scattered houses in the vicinity, the town disappeared in the 1950s.

Hawkinsville, Texas Landmarks

Photographer's Note:
Hawkinsville looks like an unorganized village. Really just a road intersection: FM 2611 and FM 457. - Barclay Gibson, 2009

Hawkinsville Texas - The Iron Cactus
The Iron Cactus
Photo courtesy Barclay Gibson, February 2009


Hawkinsville Texas - closed restaurant
A closed restaurant
Photo courtesy Barclay Gibson, February 2009


Matagorda County TX 1920s Map
1920s map showing Hawinsville in SE Matagorda County between Sargent and Cedar Lane, SE of Bay City
From Texas state map #10749
Courtesy Texas General Land Office

Take a road trip

Texas Gulf Coast

Hawkinsville, Texas Nearby Towns:
Bay City the county seat
Sargent
Cedar Lane
Van Vleck
Brazoria
Houston

See Matagorda County | Brazoria County

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Bay City Hotels | More Hotels

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