Hankamer is an unincorporated populated place in northern

Chambers County Chambers County is the name of two counties in the United States: * Chambers County, Alabama * Chambers County, Texas Chambers County is a county in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, its population was 46,571. The county seat is ...

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 ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. It is located northeast of Lake Anahuac adjacent to Wallisville on Highway 61.

Historical development

In the spring of 1904, a post office was established at Hankamer with Ira Alvan Hankamer (1869-1945) designated as postmaster on May 24. The town took his name. Ira was a son of settler John William Hankamer (1834 - 1907) who arrived in Texas in 1845 with his brothers Charles and Frederick, mother Johannette, and stepfather John Stengler, who sailed on the Harriet from Prussia to Galveston. They became citizens of the Republic of Texas. The Hankamers and Stenglers had planned to settle in the New Braunfels - Fredericksburg area, but news of Indian trouble prompted them to choose the area north of Anahuac. A grandson of Ira A. Hankamer currently resides in his old house at Hankamer. This town was named after I. A. Hankamer, an early settler to the area. In 1900 the ''Hankamer-Stowell Canal Company'' (also called ''Farmers Canal Company'') started the area

rice Rice is the seed of the grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice) or less commonly ''Oryza glaberrima ''Oryza glaberrima'', commonly known as African rice, is one of the two domesticated rice species. It was first domesticated and grown i ...

farming which would transform the surrounding region. Within two years, 10,000 acres (40 km) of rice fields would be irrigated.Handbook of Texas Online – FARMERS CANAL COMPANY
/ref> The Hankamer post office was opened in 1904. In 1929, oil was discovered nearby in Liberty County which would boost the population. In addition to the exploration for oil and gas establishing new oilfields, a lumbermill would provide employment.

Education

Anahuac Independent School District operates schools in the area.

References

External links

* * {{authority control Unincorporated communities in Chambers County, Texas Unincorporated communities in Texas Greater Houston