Art is an
unincorporated community in
Mason County,
Texas, United States. According to the
Handbook of Texas
The ''Handbook of Texas'' is a comprehensive encyclopedia of Texas geography, history, and historical persons published by the Texas State Historical Association (TSHA).
History
The original ''Handbook'' was the brainchild of TSHA President Wal ...
, the highly-dispersed community had an estimated population of 18 in 2016.
Geography
Art is situated along
State Highway 29, approximately nine miles east of
Mason
Mason may refer to:
Occupations
* Mason, brick mason, or bricklayer, a craftsman who lays bricks to construct brickwork, or who lays any combination of stones, bricks, cinder blocks, or similar pieces
* Stone mason, a craftsman in the stone-cut ...
, 27 miles west of
Llano and 90 miles west of
Austin
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...
.
History
As one of the first settlements in
Mason County, the community was initially settled around 1856, when five
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ger ...
families set up homesteads along Upper Willow Creek. They were followed by German settlers from nearby
Fredericksburg, who established themselves along Willow Creek for about ten miles in both directions. Originally called Willow Creek (or Upper Willow Creek), the community suffered numerous Indian raids, although nearby
Fort Mason offered some protection.
A log
Methodist church building that doubled as a schoolhouse was built in 1858. That building was replaced by a stone structure in 1875. In 1883, J.A. Hoerster opened one of the first general stores in the community. In 1886, Otto Plehwe purchased the store from Hoerster.
Plehwe established a post office in the store soon after and served as its first postmaster. At that time, Plehwe renamed the community Plehweville, but the post office department requested a name change as its difficult spelling caused mail to be lost. On December 23, 1920, Eli Dechart had taken over as store owner and postmaster and decided to rename the town Art after the last three letters of his name.
Throughout its history, Art has remained a small, primarily ranching community. From 1925 to the mid-1960s, the population remained steady at around 25 before experiencing a brief increase to 46 in the late 1960s. The population continued to decline during the latter half of the twentieth century.
Today, Art exists as a widely dispersed community.
Despite its size, Art continues to have a functioning post office (zip code: 76820).
Zip Code Lookup
Education
Public Education in the community of Art is provided by the Mason Independent School District
Mason Independent School District is a public school district based in Mason, Texas (USA). The district serves most of Mason County and extends into small portions of Kimble, McCulloch, Menard
Menard may refer to:
Places
Canada
*Menard ...
.
References
External links
*
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Unincorporated communities in Texas
Unincorporated communities in Mason County, Texas