Edgar, DeWitt Co, TEXAS

"a large family [of James EDGAR and Selah WITHERINGTON EDGAR] for which the little town of Edgar was named."

elevation (feet): 328

latitude: 291218N (29.1° N)

Longitude: 0971402W (97.3° W)

"Edgar is on U.S. Highway 77A about seven miles northeast of Cuero in northeastern DeWitt County. In 1853 James Edgar

brought his family to the area and claimed the land granted to his son, Joseph Smith Edgar, for his service in the Texas

Revolution. In 1887 the San Antonio and Aransas Pass Railway located a depot in the area and named it for these early

settlers. The Grassbur school served the area in the 1880s. An Edgar school was established in 1888, and the Grassbur

school was merged with it. The local post office was also established in 1888. In 1890 the community had daily mail delivered

by rail, a general store, and a population of twenty-five, and by 1915 a reported 100 residents supported a Wells Fargo office,

at least one store, the school, and a cotton gin; the community also had telephone service. A Cumberland Presbyterian church

also served the community for some years. The local Baptist church operated until 1947. The Edgar post office was

discontinued in 1940, and the school closed in 1951. Only fifty people were recorded as living in Edgar from the mid-1920s to

the late 1940s; thereafter, no population figures are available, though in 1948 Edgar had a black Baptist church, a grocery,

and a chicken hatchery. The 1983 county highway map indicated a church and a business at Edgar."

Sources and References:

• The Handbook of Texas Online: Nellie Murphree, A History of DeWitt County (Victoria, Texas, 1962)

• DeWitt County, Texas - Index of Landmarks & Vanished Communities

• Yoakum Community: the First 100 Years, 1887 – 1987 [BOOK], page 187, posted in HISTORIES

DeWitt County, TEXAS

DeWitt County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of 2000, the population was 20,013. The county seat is Cuero.

DeWitt County is named for Green DeWitt, who founded an early colony in Texas. The major towns are Cuero, Meyersville

(unincorporated), Nordheim, Yoakum, Yorktown.

"Although the present county was part of DeWitt's colony [see Sons of DeWitt Colony Texas]

and settlement dates to colonization in 1825, the county officially has two dates of origin.

The first, DeWitt County (Judicial), was formed on February 2, 1842, but was declared

unconstitutional along with other judicial counties later that autumn. The present DeWitt County

was formed from Goliad, Gonzales, and Victoria counties in 1846 and named for impresario

Green DeWitt. It comprises 910 square miles, most of which is nearly level to sloping."

source: The Handbook of Texas Online

Sources and References:

• The History of DeWitt County, Texas, Patsy Goebel, Curtis Media Company

"Patsy is pretty famous in DeWitt County as a local historian/archeologist and cemetery expert of the county." (source:

Robert Webb)