Buckhorn is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...

Austin County Austin County is a rural, agricultural dominated county in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, the population was 30,167. Its seat is Bellville. The county and region was settled primarily by German emigrants in the 1800s. Austin ...

, in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

. 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 ...

, its population was 20 in 2000. It is located within the

Greater Houston Greater Houston, designated by the United States Office of Management and Budget as Houston–The Woodlands–Sugar Land, is the fifth-most populous metropolitan statistical area in the United States, encompassing nine counties along the Gulf Co ...

metropolitan area.

History

The area in what is now known as Buckhorn today was first settled in the 1830s. The community was founded in 1873 when a

cotton gin A cotton gin—meaning "cotton engine"—is a machine that quickly and easily separates cotton fibers from their seeds, enabling much greater productivity than manual cotton separation.. Reprinted by McGraw-Hill, New York and London, 1926 (); a ...

and

gristmill A gristmill (also: grist mill, corn mill, flour mill, feed mill or feedmill) grinds cereal grain into flour and Wheat middlings, middlings. The term can refer to either the Mill (grinding), grinding mechanism or the building that holds it. Grist i ...

were built on the banks of a Caney Creek tributary by HS Smith. A post office was established at Buckhorn in 1874 and remained in operation until 1901. N. Cochran was the first postmaster. It had several churches and a

stagecoach A stagecoach is a four-wheeled public transport coach used to carry paying passengers and light packages on journeys long enough to need a change of horses. It is strongly sprung and generally drawn by four horses although some versions are draw ...

that bypassed the town semiweekly toward Bellville in 1880. It had a population of 200 in 1885. This dropped below 100 by 1910 and continued to plunge to 10 by 1933. It grew to 50 residents and had two businesses in 1939. Its population went down to 20 from 1974 through 2000. Two churches named Samuel and Washam Chapels were in Buckhorn in the late 1980s.

Geography

Buckhorn is located on Farm to Market Road 1456, northeast of Bellville in far northeastern Austin County.

Education

Buckhorn had its own school in 1880. It had 21 students enrolled in 1918. Today, the community is served by the

Bellville Independent School District Bellville Independent School District is a public school district based in Bellville, Texas (USA). In addition to Bellville, the district also serves the city of Industry as well as rural areas in northern Austin County. Finances As of the 201 ...

References

Unincorporated communities in Austin County, Texas Unincorporated communities in Texas {{AustinCountyTX-geo-stub