The Hawkins Ranch, also known as Hawkins Plantation, is a historic site and currently a cattle ranch, located in

Matagorda County, Texas Matagorda County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, the population was 36,255. Its county seat is Bay City, not to be confused with the larger Baytown in Harris and Chambers Counties. Matagorda County is ...

. It was established in 1846, as a working sugarcane plantation with enslaved African Americans. After the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states ...

ended in 1865, the site employed paid laborers and former convicts, and by c. 1890 it become a cattle ranch.

History

The Hawkins Ranch was established by James Boyd Hawkins in 1846. It was a sugarcane plantation, with 101 African American slaves by 1860. In December 1863, during the

of 1861–1865,

Confederate States Army The Confederate States Army, also called the Confederate Army or the Southern Army, was the military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) during the American Civil War (1861–1865), fighting ...

General

John B. Magruder John Bankhead Magruder (May 1, 1807 – February 18, 1871) was an American and Confederate military officer. A graduate of West Point, Magruder served with distinction during the Mexican–American War (1846–1848) and was a prominent Confede ...

was inspecting coastal defenses in the area and "stopp dawhile at Hawkins' plantation and other hospitable places." After the war, paid laborers were supplemented by convicts. For example, in 1876, Hawkins employed 37 convicts. In September 1887, there was an uprising of the African Americans near the plantation, as reported by

The Galveston Daily News ''The Daily News'', formerly the ''Galveston County Daily News'' and ''Galveston Daily News'', is a newspaper published in Galveston, Texas, United States. It was first published April 11, 1842, making it the oldest newspaper in the U.S. state o ...

. By the mid-1890s, the plantation had stopped raising sugarcane and started to be focused on growing corn, cotton, and raising cattle. In the wake of the invention of barbed wire (in the late 1800s), the plantation gradually became more focused on becoming a cattle ranch. Gas wells and trails were built throughout the ranch. Most cattle are a crossbreed of Hereford and

Brahman In Hinduism, ''Brahman'' ( sa, ब्रह्मन्) connotes the highest universal principle, the ultimate reality in the universe.P. T. Raju (2006), ''Idealistic Thought of India'', Routledge, , page 426 and Conclusion chapter part X ...

cattle. In 1919, Hamill and Associates conducted a test to determine whether oil existed on the ranch, but drilling did not continue. Orbit Petroleum operated gas wells on the ranch for several years. Gas wells were shut in by the

Texas Railroad Commission The Railroad Commission of Texas (RRC; also sometimes called the Texas Railroad Commission, TRC) is the state agency that regulates the oil and gas industry, gas utilities, pipeline safety, safety in the liquefied petroleum gas industry, and sur ...

as a result of Hurricane Rita in 2005, and they were reopened in 2007.

References

1846 establishments in Texas Matagorda County, Texas Plantations in Texas Ranches in Texas Sugar plantations in Texas Companies established in 1846 {{Texas-plantation-stub

History

Further reading

References