COLLEGEPORT DAY 2007
 

C E L E B R A T E    O U R    H E R I T A G E!

The Woman’s Club of Collegeport invite you and your family or guest to the 99th Anniversary of the founding of Collegeport.  The annual homecoming will be held at the Mopac House on Saturday, May 26, 2007.  Dinner will be served at 12:00 Noon.  Please bring a side dish, salad, or dessert to compliment barbecued beef.  Dine-in only.

 

SPECIAL THANKS TO:

       MEAT DONORS:

            Collegeport Area VFD

            U. S. McMillan

            Daniel & Gertrude Ryan

   Elaine Hendrix Shows  

      FIREWOOD DONOR:  

            Geren Rusk

  COLLEGEPORT AREA VFD and ALL who

  make this event a success.

 

PERSONS WISHING TO CONTRIBUTE toward the purchase of beef for the barbecue next year please contact Ida Mae Franzen.

 

REMAINING BARBECUE will be sold at the pit following the noon meal for $7.00/lb.

 

CONGRATULATIONS!

Local graduates of Palacios High School,

Savannah Franzen and Araceli Padron, were honored with a dinner at the Mopac House Monday, May 13, 2007.

 

Local Graduates of Texas A & M University are

Stacy Bowers and Stephanie Franzen. 

 

IN MEMORIAM

Don L. Batchelder

Mary Magdeline Halfen

Irwon Blackwell Jensen

Alfred Kopecky

Kay Frances Legg Mahurin

Donald Richardson

John Wayne Shows

Ruth Boeker Spates

 

THE MOPAC HOUSE FOUNDATION has made application for 501c3 non-profit status with the IRS in order to be eligible to apply for Community Development Grant funds to help renovate the Mopac House.   The initial phase of the project will include repairs to the foundation and floor of the community center.   

Trustees are:  G. W. Franzen, Chairman; Russell Corporon, Vice-Chairman; Fred Law, Secretary; Jim Bob Murry, Treasurer; and Mason Holsworth.

         

COLLEGEPORT, TEXAS IS ON THE WEB!  We invite you to share photos and information about Collegeport.  Thank you to all who have already contributed!  To go directly to the Collegeport web-page, the address is:  https://usgenwebsites.org/TXMatagorda/collegeport/collegeport.htm
 

C E N T E N N I A L  C E L E B R A T I O N The Collegeport Community will observe its 100th birthday in 2008.  Founded on May 25, 1908 by the Burton D. Hurd Land Company, the town was so named for the COLLEGE (Gulf Coast University of Industrial Arts) and for the proposed PORT which never developed.  Advertisements in Mid-Western newspapers, and lectures promoting the Mid-Gulf Coast Region enticed settlers to come to Collegeport on excursion trains with dreams of building fortunes on the mid-Gulf Coast of Texas.   Failure met repeated attempts to develop profitable ventures, and by 1915 the University had closed and many of the disillusioned settlers moved back from whence they came.  Some stayed and found prosperity in the area in farming and ranching.  In the 1920’s, a new wave of settlement brought in farming families who established homes here.  The depression of the ‘30’s closed the cannery, and again the community floundered.  Following WWII, agriculture again flourished.  The availability of irrigation water from the Lower Colorado River made these lands profitable for rice production.  Cattle ranching on a rotation basis with the rice proved to be advantageous.  Grain sorghum and cotton were other crops that did well.  In the 1990’s Aquaculture was pioneered in this area, and today many hundreds of acres are dedicated to shrimp and catfish production.

 

PENLAND FAMILY REUNION is planned for Sunday, May 27, 2007 at the Mopac House. 

 

WELCOME TO THE COMMUNITY!            Thomas & Christine Franzen purchased the home of Dean & Dorothy Merck.  Tom is a grandson of pioneers Gust & Ellen Franzen. 

Gary & Beth McKenzie of Texas City purchased the former home of V. L. Bowers.

 

MAY IS NATIONAL PRESERVATION MONTH.  This years’ newsletter features several completed and ongoing renovation projects in the Collegeport area.   There are many other noteworthy renovation and preservation projects, either completed or in the works.  Some of these, listed by name of their historic owners include the homes of L. E. Liggett, Burton D. Hurd, Joe F. Jenkins, B. V. Merck, A. H. Clapp and V. L. Bowers.

 

A SLIDESHOW OF PHOTOGRAPHS and other historical information about Collegeport will be displayed in the Library on Collegeport Day.  Please bring your photos to share.

Mopac House & Library

 

SHARE YOUR IDEAS for commemorating Collegeport’s Centennial in 2008. 


 

 

 

 

 

Matagorda County is one of the few counties in Texas to be designated a Preserve America County.  These photographs document the work of local residents who are preserving our community--one house at a time.  These projects are works-in-progress and some seem never-ending, but to the preservationist at heart, the houses take on lives of their own.

 

 

        

 

House built by John Phillips Pierce around 1900.  This photo from 1995 shows the house in a state of disrepair.    Longtime owners were Lolalita and Earl Cockburn.  The Penland family lived here for many years before the Cockburns moved to Collegeport.                                                                                                                       

 

 

The house as it appears today, with replicated wooden porches, is currently owned by Bill & Sandra Gay who have invested countless hours stabilizing and restoring this landmark.

 

 

 

 

 

    

The home of Theo Smith, owner of one of the lumber yards in the early days of Collegeport, was completed in 1911.  Built in the Mission Style, its interiors are in quite original condition.  For many years, this was the home of Ben and Mae Mowery. 

   

The house is now the home of Frank and Betty Canfield and it is currently being prepared for new exterior stucco.

 

 

 


 

Originally located on Robbins Slough Road, this building was the Citrus Grove Schoolhouse.  The school consolidated with the Collegeport School District in 1932.  In 1940, the building was moved north to Citrus Grove to a site donated to the community by Jane Savage.  Here, the building was used as a community center.  The annual Citrus Grove Thanksgiving Dinners were held here until 1977 when the Community association dissolved and sold the property.

    

The Citrus Grove School House/Community Center, owned by Anthony Nelson was converted to a residence, but retains much of the school house character outside.

 

 

      

The House/Hunt/Wells house was built in about 1910 located on South Street in Collegeport and was ravaged by Hurricane Carla in 1961.  After being washed off its foundation by the tidal surge, it was moved to higher ground and repaired by its owners, Rob and Ruby Wells.  They lived there until 1978 when they moved to Bay City. 

         

This house is now owned by G. W. Franzen.  It is being renovated incorporating materials salvaged from the Citrus Grove School House and several other Collegeport houses.

 

 

   

The Slough Ranch house is possibly the home of developer George Burkhart at Palacios Point (founded in 1838).  Title disputes over land on which Palacios Point lay, along with the storm of 1875 caused the townsite to be abandoned.  In about 1889, remaining houses were salvaged and the lumber moved by barge up the Pilkington Slough to the present site where Jonathan Edwards Pierce built his ranch headquarters. The site is comprised of the ranch house, a large timber frame barn, bunkhouse, storage house and a 3-holer privy.

   
The Slough Ranch house has been completely renovated by current owners G. W., Derril and Samantha Franzen.

 


 

Copyright 2007 - Present by Mopac House Foundation
All rights reserved
Created
May 17, 2007		 Updated
May 18, 2007
 

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