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NEEDVILLE,
TEXAS
Fort Bend County,
Gulf Coast
Highway 36, FM 1236 and FM 360
14 Miles S of Richmond
Population 2,609 (2000)
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| Photo
courtesy Ken Rudine, July 2007 |
History
in a Pecan Shell
First named Schendelville after store and gin owner August Schendel,
the town began in the early 1890s. When August made an application
for a post office (1894) he jokingly asked that it be called Needmore,
but some postmaster in West Texas had beat him to it, so the authorities
took the liberty of altering it to Needville.
A school opened in the late 1890s about the time the town was platted
and lots sold. The population was 100 in 1914 and the town received
a phone connection two years later. The Galveston, Harrisburg and
San Antonio Railway arrived in 1918. The population had increased
to 500 by the 1920s and Needville had its own electric generating
plant. In 1932 Highway 36 was constructed, giving the town it's first
all-weather road connecting it to other towns.
Needville students were bussed to Richmond and Rosenberg until the
late 1940s when Needville formed its own ISD. The high school opened
in 1948, and the elementary school in 1960. The high school suffered
an arson fire in 2007, which destroyed much of the original building.
The N. A. Allen Elementary School was constructed for Black students
in 1960 and integrated six years later. The town got its first library
in 1974. The 1950 population was just over 600. It grew to 2,199 by
1990 and 2,609 for the 2000 census. |
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| Photo
courtesy Ken Rudine, July 2007 |
Needville,
Texas Forum
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