Hawkins, family moved to Lower Caney in 1840s

James Boyd Hawkins, early Texas planter, was born in Franklin County, North Carolina, on December 27, 1813, the son of John D. Hawkins.    He married Ariella Alston in 1834, and they had eight children.

Historical marker observes Van Vleck school history

an Vleck ISD was dedicated a Registered Texas Historical Subject Marker recognizing the history of the second oldest school district in Matagorda County.  Education was a priority to the earliest residents of Matagorda County.

Hlavinka creates steamboat model

Did you know that this large model, made by Craig Hlavinka, is fashioned after the wreckage of a 19th century steamboat found in the muddy waters of Caney Creek?    Not much information is available about it, but there are three theories as to why it is there and what happened to it.   They are:  1.

Shocking lightning stories from around county

Coulterville Clatter    On Thursday, February 4th, about 2 o’clock, just after dinner was over and the family was gathered around a heating stove, lightning struck the house of Mr. Johnie Rugeley and their escape from instant death, at least some members of the family, seems to be nothing less than...

Gulf: Company town provided most everything

Gulf, now called Old Gulf, and formerly called Big Hill, is no more.   Big Hill was a dome-like land surface, about 60 feet high, east of Matagorda, along the Intracoastal Canal where it opens into East Matagorda Bay.  In 1833, William Simpson received this land from the Mexican government.

Markham doctor’s fatal shooting covered statewide

Dr. Henry E. Yarbrough was born September 17, 1874 and died October 9, 1908 in Markham, Matagorda County, Texas.   He was buried at Greenwood Cemetery, Waco, McLennan County.   He was the son of Thomas Jackson “Jeff” Yarbrough (1840-1918) and Sarah Kite-Kight.

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.

Bay City bank once issued own notes

National Bank Notes were United States currency banknotes issued by National banks chartered by the United States Government.   The notes were usually backed by U.S. bonds the bank deposited with the U.S. Treasury.

"Original municipal airport on east side of Bay City" By Paul Freeman

The original Municipal Airport for the town of Bay City was located adjacent to the east side of the town.     The airport was located southeast of the intersection of Texas 35 and Norvell Avenue.  The airport’s northern boundary was aligned just south of the Union Pacific railroad line.

AP Clark - from Little Round Top to Palacios

EDITOR’S NOTE: Matagorda County historian Carol Sue Gibbs suggested an interesting story for the Bay City Sentinel’s History Page – Confederates buried in Palacios’ cemetery.  One story stood out in the Matagorda County history and genealogy page that Gibbs manages – A.P. Clark.