La Parita 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 ...

in Atascosa County, 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 sove ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

. According to the Handbook of Texas, the community had a population of 48 in 2000. It is located within the

San Antonio ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , subdivision_t ...

metropolitan area.

History

La Parita was founded by brothers John and Joe Chupick ''circa'' 1922, who established a store and

lumberyard A lumber yard is a location where lumber and wood-related products used in construction and/or home improvement projects are processed or stored. Some lumber yards offer retail sales to consumers, and some of these may also provide services suc ...

to convince people to move there. In 1933, La Parita had one business, and area residents would gather at the site of a bridge over La Parita Creek for picnics on the

fourth of July Independence Day (colloquially the Fourth of July) is a federal holiday in the United States commemorating the Declaration of Independence, which was ratified by the Second Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, establishing the United States ...

and other regional gatherings. It was also the site of a Four-H club in the 1940s. The community did not develop to any great degree, even though

oil An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) & lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturated ...

was discovered near there in 1950. The store remained open until 1956. The community only had a few scattered houses in 1987 and had a population of 48 as of 2000.

Geography

La Parita is located east of Farm to Market Road 1332, southeast of

Charlotte Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...

in west-central Atascosa County.

Education

La Parita had its own school established in 1875, which was then abandoned in 1884. John and Joe Chupick purchased land in the neighborhood that the school was located in to build the community. A new school was built in 1924 on land that was donated by John and Rosey Matocha. It first had two classrooms, then gained another one in 1933 and had 100 students enrolled and three teachers employed. The school joined the

Jourdanton Independent School District Jourdanton Independent School District is a public school district based in Jourdanton, Texas ( USA). In 2009, the school district was rated " academically acceptable" by the Texas Education Agency The Texas Education Agency (TEA) is t ...

in the early 1950s. The community continues to be served by the Jourdanton ISD today.

References

{{authority control Unincorporated communities in Atascosa County, Texas Unincorporated communities in Texas