Merry Christmas 1937 from West side of the square

   After Thanksgiving in 1937, thoughts of Matagorda County residents turned toward Christmas. Stores around the square were decorating their display windows to entice shoppers to buy in Bay City.

Merry Christmas 1937 from East side of the square

   Shoppers on the east side of the square on December 11, 1937 were probably greeted with signs which said “Only 14 Days Until Christmas!”   They were grateful that the temperature which was in the 40s, was warming up a bit.

Merry Christmas 1937 from south side of the square

Thru the Shops With Toots  Take advantage of the outstanding jewelry values at TETTS JEWELRY CO. Give long-lasting gifts this year! You are sure to find just what you want in the splendid selection of highest quality jewelry at TETT’S JEWELRY CO.

Williams among Bay Prairie men who died at Goliad

   Napoleon Bonaparte Williams, soldier in the Texas Revolution, was born in 1809 to George F. and Lavinia (Hobbs) Williams.   The family moved to Texas from Connecticut.   George Williams, as a member of the Old Three Hundred, received a grant of a sitio of land on Tres Palacios Creek.

Henry Thorp became prominent Matagorda legislator and attorney

   Henry Thorp, lawyer and state representative, was born in Greensville County, Virginia, in 1830.   Thorp came to Texas with his older brothers about 1848 and settled in Matagorda County.   Here, he studied law and went into practice with an older brother.

Robert Williams interests went from politics to farming

    Robert Harris Williams, alcalde of the District of Mina and one of Stephen F. Austin’s Old Three Hundred colonists, son of Marmaduke “Duke” and Ede (Harris) Williams, was born in Caswell County, North Carolina, on October 10, 1796.   His siblings included Charles F. Augustus and John Williams.

Museum shows off upstairs gallery

"Portland was a town proposed to bypass the Colorada log jam" By Mary B. Ingram

   The proposed city of Portland (at the head of the raft on the Colorado River approximately 12 miles above the town of Matagorda) is an interesting account of one of the early promoters who came to Texas during Stephen F. Austin‘s era.    Born in Philadelphia in 1766, Nicholas Clopper, Sr.

Polish settlers founded St. Francisville

   Southwest of Wadsworth on FM 521 stands a little picturesque church and graveyard- so dear to many, but unknown to most of the residents of Matagorda County.

Bay City VFD battling blazes for 118 years

   The Bay City Volunteer Fire Department was established in 1906 - 118 years of service to Bay City and the surrounding areas.  William Walker Sr. was the first fire chief when the only equipment in the city was a two-wheeled, hand-drawn chemical cart.