Austin Wyche family: A long Matagorda County history

   Austin Wyche, a blacksmith born in Virginia in 1827, came to Texas in 1863 with his wife, Emma.   Their son Joshua Wyche was born in Texas in 1866.  In 1885, Joshua married Julia Stewart.   The minister was Orange Doss.

Remembering World War I: Matagorda County casualties

   EDITOR’S NOTE: 2017 is the 100th year commemoration of WWI. As part of that observation, the Bay City Sentinel will run the stories of Matagorda County’s casualties in the ‘War to End All Wars,” as well as related local pieces of that time, through the month of June.

Camp Palomar was Texas’ 1st summer high school

   In the spring of 1919 Dr. J. V. Brown, then President of San Marcos Baptist Academy, saw the need of a summer term of school in order for students to remove some of the deficiencies in their high school courses.

Bethlehem Church centerpiece of Cedar Lake history

   Cedar Lake,on Farm Road 2611 just west of the Brazoria county line in southeastern Matagorda County, was named for a cedar brake surrounding a nearby lake.   A post office operated there from 1848 until 1855.   In September 1854 the name was changed to Dura, and in November, to Duroc.

‘Collegeport climate too healthy to support a physician’

   The warm climate of Collegeport and the excitement of a new town lured many homeseekers from the northern states.   All communities needed doctors and four doctors moved to Collegeport in its infancy to meet the medical needs of the residents.

Obituary tells about Smith’s life

   Funeral services were held Sunday morning, April 16, at the Live Oak Farm for Mrs. Allen J. Smith who died April 14, in the Turner Hospital, Houston.  Mrs. Smith was the descendant of one of the early settlers of Texas, a grand-daughter of William D.

Pearl Pierce Smith made Live Oak Farm a showplace

  Matagorda Area Land “Too Poor to Grow Peas” Made to Pay by Woman  By H. C. Edge, Post Farm Editor  Bay City, Aug.

Huebner cattle drive

Ben Hur Beach: The place to go in early 1900s

   EDITOR’S NOTE: The following articles are from the Matagorda County Hiistory and Genealogy page and include the promotions and social columns about groups heading for the beach in the early 1900s.

Hamman Oil once boasted sizable operations in Bay City

   As the immediate photo below shows, the Hamman Oil Company had a sizable operation going south of Bay City beginning in 1933.  That year, Hamman Exploration Company, headed by John Hamman Jr. and George F.