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History
in a Seashell
A brief time line of significant events in Raisin's
history
1889: established as a stop on the Gulf, Western Texas and Pacific Railroad
from Victoria to Beeville.
1892: The town gets a post office. The railroad called the station
Lucy, but the postal authorities rejected it - wanting something more distinctive.
The name Raisin was chosen to honor a local rancher (J. K. Reeves) who had tried
to grow grapes. Judging by the name - it wasn't a successful venture.
The nearby German settlement of Coletoville
took an interest in Raisin - probably due to the depot. C. T. Friedrichs, built
a gin, and a man named Kohl built a store. Frederichs was the first postmaster
and Kohl the second - serving from 1901 until 1914
1914: Post
office closes
1930: The American Railway Express office, closes
and Southern Pacific discontinues passenger service - a result of a drop in passengers
from the opening of highway 59.
The population of the Raisin-Coletoville
area has remained at about fifty persons from the early 1900s to the present.
See "Familes
of Raisin, 1900s Vintage Photos" |
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Old
Frederich's Dance Hall, circa 1890
Photo courtesy Frank Richard Brown |
FREDERICH'S
DANCE HALL in RAISIN, TEXAS
[The photo is] from a collection
of old photographs that belonged to my great grandmother, Dora Kobitz of the
Cross K Ranch that resided on the Victoria County shore of Coleto Creek.
Our family, the Kobitz family, lived on a large ranch that bordered Coleto Creek
on the Victoria County side. Most of this property was taken when the Coleto Resovoir
was built in the late 1960's. but there is still a small parcel about midway between
Raisin and Coletoville. My Grandfather,
Preston Charles Kobitz, was the last born male in the Kobitz family, and the last
to live in the old ranch house.
In the late 1980's he wrote his remembrances
of life in Raisin/Coletoville during the
early 1900's; The following passage is taken from those writings:
Time Has Passed it By....
"Raisin was quite a little
burg. Otto Kolh had the big general store. Before the Postal Service started the
rural mail service, he was also Post Master. There was also a cotton gin, two
dance halls. There is a picture of the Frederick Hall among the old pictures.
There was a blacksmith shop and two saloons.
Frederichs Hall was quite
large, and at Christmas there was a big live oak decorated with popcorn on string.
I do not recall if there were apples and oranges. I do recall that there were
many gifts under the tree. There were many barbecues, usually on July 4th or other
special days. The charge was usually fifty cents for all you could eat. It included
potato salad, noodle salads, coffee, vegetables, pickles, bread, and anything
you would serve at home for a dinner, it would be on their table. This was always
a gala occasion. It would start in the afternoon and end up with a dance at night.
The saloons, of course, did a big business! There was always a number of fights
and you could bet that a man named John Marr was in at least one of them. The
cotton gin, the blacksmith shop, the Otto Kolh store are all gone, have been for
years. Also the saloons. Time has passed it by."
- Frank Richard Brown,
June 22, 2007 |
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