Egypt, Wharton County, Texas

Egypt is an unincorporated community in northern Wharton County in the U.S. state of Texas. According to the Handbook of Texas, the community had a population of 26 in 2000. It is located within the Greater Houston metropolitan area.

History

Egypt was founded before any other settlement in Wharton County and was a part of Colorado County during the Republic of Texas period. Egypt is located on John C. Clark's league of land. Robert Kuykendall had land below Egypt, and Thomas Rabb had land north of the community. These three men were members of the Old Three Hundred. The Karankawa Indians preferred hunting along the Colorado River. Thanks to the efforts of these individuals, the area quickly became secure enough for others to settle in. Eli Mercer developed a plantation and ferry on the Colorado River at the San Felipe- Texana crossing in 1829, marking the beginning of the original community. A few miles from the river, where the road from Matagorda to Columbus crossed the San Felipe-Texana road, is where the community grew. When a severe drought caused it to supply nearby villages with grain, they started calling it Egypt. William J. E. Heard established Egypt Plantation in 1832 on the he acquired from Clark and constructed his residence in what is now the city's center; his family was still living there in 1992. In November 1835, a post office was inaugurated with Mercer as the postmaster. Four different mail lines traveled through Egypt by 1840. Egypt has long been a hub for agriculture thanks to its rich soil; Mercer grew some of Texas's earliest sugarcane and Heard operated a cotton gin in 1836. Capt. Thomas Rabb assembled a company of troops in the vicinity of Egypt in February of that year. They, afterward, joined the First Regiment of Texas Mounted Rifle Volunteers as Company F. When Gen. Sam Houston arrived, they had already begun their long retreat across Texas and were at Gonzales. In San Jacinto, they formed the core of the Texas line and seized the Mexican cannons under the command of Captain W. J. E. Heard. Several residents who lived west of the Colorado congregated in Egypt during the Runaway Scrape in the hopes that Houston and the Texas army, which was positioned directly above Egypt, would stop the Mexicans from crossing the river. Texas Declaration of Independence signer William Menefee, Alamo courier Dr. John Sutherland, and Eli Mercer's son-in-law, publisher and inventor Gail Borden, all resided in Egypt. In May 1836, as the Mexican army was fleeing, Gen. Thomas J. Rusk and the Texas army established a temporary headquarters in Egypt. In 1837, the republic established Post Colorado. Egypt was served by a stagecoach line run by Andrew Northington, who was Heard's son-in-law, in 1839. A general store had a solid reputation by 1840 and served as the voting location for the first election, and it continued to serve as such for the 1990 primary in the community. Several entrepreneurial individuals constructed a railroad track in 1848. The carriages were drawn by horses, and the wooden rails were constructed from hard live oak. It ran between Egypt and Columbus. Mentor Northington constructed a new cotton gin just before the Civil War, which the family ran for more than a century. A sizable general commerce enterprise was established in Egypt by George H. Northington and Green C. Duncan in 1881. A sizable portion of the county's commercial and social life centered around the store. It had everything, including caskets, seeds, farm equipment, clothes, and groceries. When the new store was erected, the post office relocated there and stayed there until 1981, when a new brick structure was built a block away. A quarter horse racetrack was in use in Egypt from the 1930s until the start of World War II. Large groups of spectators came from all around South Texas on race days. In 1901, the Cane Belt Railroad was constructed through Egypt. In 1902, the line was sold to the Santa Fe, and in 1991, the service was halted, and the tracks were taken out. Egypt had about 26 people living there in 1990, according to estimates. There were 300 registered voters in the Egypt post office's service area in 1992. Twenty-six people were living there in 2000.

Egypt's 1827 name change from "Mercer's Crossing" came from the Bible, and originated from the text of Genesis 42:1-3.

On August 26, 2017, a tornado debris signature was spotted on the radar just south of Egypt.

Geography

Egypt is located on Farm to Market Road 102, northwest of Wharton in Wharton County.

Education

Egypt had a school district from 1854 to 1958 when it joined the Hungerford Independent School District. Today, the community is served by the El Campo Independent School District.

Notable people

* Joseph Kellman, businessman and philanthropist

File:Egypt TX Heard Plantation.JPG, Heard-Northington Plantation

References

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Unincorporated communities in Wharton County, Texas
Unincorporated communities in Texas