"Sweet water spring on bay" By Margaret Johnson

   Well Point, situated in southwest Matagorda County on Turtle Bay, received its name from the fresh water spring situated in this area.       Due to the erosion of the coastline, the spring is now in the bay.        This area was a favorite camping ground of the Karankawa (Carancahua) Indians.

Founding Bay City was Swickheimer’s biggest success

   David (Dave) Swickheimer, mining millionaire and owner of the Enterprise Land and Colonizing Company, was born near Dover, Ohio, on April 18, 1853, the oldest son of German immigrant parents John Thomas and Anna Mary (Ade) Swickheimer.

Braman: Matagorda mayor, county judge, popular author

   Don Braman - a Matagorda County Judge and Matagorda mayor - the oldest child of Andrew and Nancy (Hawes) Braman, was born in Norton, Bristol County, Massachusetts, on September 21, 1814.     He attended the common schools of Providence, Rhode Island.

Luther Hotel opens for inspection

   People and experts supporting preservation of the Luther Hotel were allowed inside the locked gates surrounding the hotel on April 25.

Bay City’s Coca Cola plant grand addition in 1934

   EDITOR’S NOTE: The following story on the 81-year-old former Coca-Cola bottling plant was taken from the Matagorda County genweb page.     At the corner of Avenue A and Texas 35, the building now is mostly shrouded by overgrown trees and plants.

Matagorda Peninsula’s German Settlement: Every man skilled in a trade

   German Settlement, sometimes called Dutch Settlement, was on the Matagorda Peninsula midway between Cavallo Pass on the west and the mouth of Caney Creek to the east, in extreme southern Matagorda County.

Elias Wightman petitioned Austin to establish Matagorda

   Elias R. Wightman, one of the founders of Matagorda and aStephen F. Austin Old Three Hundred colonist, was born early in 1792 in Herkimer County, New York, one of 11 children of Esther (Randall) and Baptist minister Benjamin Wightman.