Continued from March 14
The May 7, 1915 issue of the Matagorda County Tribune reported a freight train wreck near
Allenhurst which blocked the track for all traffic.
Wreck Hits Brownsville Railroad Hard
Twenty-five Freight Cars Ditched Near Allenhurst
A freight train, consisting of twenty-five cars, south bound, was wrecked yesterday morning near Allenhurst on the St. L., B. & M. railroad about nine miles east of here.
The wreck was of sufficient seriousness as to delay or rather turn back the south bound passenger train due here at 11:30 and to cause the Houston bound passenger train, due here at 4 p.m., to return here and wait road repairing.
Traffic of all kinds on this road was suspended during yesterday and last night.
The wrecker was sent to the scene early yesterday afternoon, upon its arrival from Kingsville.
In 1918, World War I and the flu epidemic reached Allenhurst.
Flu deaths were reported and Allenhurst men marched off to war.
Several Matagorda County communities invested in the fig industry in the 1920s.
Fig orchards were also planted at Allenhurst.
The January 19, 1923 issue of The Daily Tribune reported:
Will Plant Twenty-Acres To Figs
As an indication of the way the fig industry is taking, the Tribune learned today, on excellent authority, that Manor Stafford, of Wharton, is having 25 acres of his land just south of Van Vleck and near Allenhurst prepared for figs.
The orchard will be set out this spring.
Mr. Stafford’s land is a part of the O’Connell old place and will, no doubt, eventually be turned largely to fig orchards and fig culture.
The 1930 Federal Census reported approximately 63 residents in 17 households in the Allenhurst area. 55 were born in Texas and 8 out of state.
Those 55 were probably born in the Allenhurst area.
Of the 1930 residents, 43 were African American and 20 were white.
In 1940 approximately 56 residents in 17 households were enumerated, 40 African American and 16 white.
Only five were born out of state.
In 1933, Mrs. C.P. Washington, the Negro County Home Demonstration Agent, reported that the Allenhurst housewives in the Home Demonstration Club at Allenhurst met monthly.
Oil and natural gas exploration was taking place in the Allenhurst area in the 1950s and 1960s, but there was no significant development.
The July 19, 1956 issue of the Bay City Herald reported “a decided slump in drilling activity due to a shortage of drill pipe and excessive imports of foreign oil.”
Most of the wells were abandoned or plugged.
The population in 2000 was approximately 50.
The area was found to be good for turf farming.
In 2022, most of the area is used for cattle grazing. Many new families have built contemporary homes in recent years.
Allenhurst Cemetery
As with most communities, a cemetery soon became a necessity in Allenhurst.
It was established near the church and across Allenhurst Road.
Like many African American cemeteries in Matagorda County, the cemetery was located on the bank of Caney Creek on Allenhurst Road (County Road 142)
The earliest recorded burial in the Allenhurst Cemetery was John Jackson who died September 21, 1915.
The cemetery is still in use in 2022, with most burials being family members of those already buried there.
As of February 2, 2022, there are 86 recorded burials with eight of those being veterans.
The burials include a centenarian that was 111 years old.
There were only 15 who died earlier than the age of 40, five of whom were age five or less and 31 people were 70 or older.
Longtime family names from the community found on the gravestones include Abbott, Beverly, Campbell, Hayes, Irving, Miller, Moore, Prince, Scott, Stanford and Wiley.
Allenhurst Cemetery was located across the road from Mount Zion Missionary Baptist Church Number One.
Apparently the property was chosen because John Jackson was already buried there.
In August 1917, a deed was executed transferring the cemetery property from Louise Holt Mayfield (1876-1954) to Mount Zion Baptist Church No. 1.
The property included two acres in the P. Pruitt League.
The church paid $50.00 dollars at the time of purchase and a further sum of $50.00 was paid one year later.
The church trustees signing the deed transfer were Ike Stanford, Louis Campbell (1884-1958), Calvin Scott (1867-1957) and George Harrison.
The cemetery is now the only reminder of the early Allenhurst Community.
Allenhurst was a station of the St. Louis, Brownsville & Mexico Railroad.
Its primary residents were descendants of former slaves who had worked for local plantation owners in pre-Civil War days.
Allenhurst was home to these free families.
The Mt. Zion Missionary Baptist Church No. 1 was surely the center of community life.
The nearby Allenhurst Cemetery was the burial place for this small farming community, and the school at Allenhurst educated its children until 1938.
As the community dwindled, the church ultimately dissolved and the building was demolished, leaving the Allenhurst Cemetery the only reminder of earlier times.
Allenhurst experienced new growth in the 1980s which has continued until 2022.
New homes have sprung up in the area as families locate here. Cattle grazing and turf grass farms are the main uses of the land in 2022.
