McNeil 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 Caldwell 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 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 ...

, the community had a population of 200 in 2000. It is located within the

Greater Austin The Austin–Round Rock–San Marcos metropolitan statistical area (or Greater Austin) is a five-county metropolitan area in the U.S. state of Texas, as defined by the Office of Management and Budget. The metropolitan area is situated in Ce ...

metropolitan area.

History

Baptist Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only (believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compete ...

church called the McNeil Creek Baptist Church was established in the community in June 1888. It was reported to have 200 members in 1983. A church and a cemetery marked the community on county highway maps in the late 1980s. The population of the community was 200 through 2000. It was also a thriving farm community settled by immigrants 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 th ...

. Harvey King was the unofficial "Mayor of McNeil." As of 2010, the McNeil Creek Baptist Church and a cemetery that occupied land first donated to a

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's b ...

church established by Margaret Smith Hinds in Soda Springs around 1867 are what remain in McNeil. Benton I. McCarley, who was killed in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, is buried in the community's cemetery, and the American Legion Post in Luling was named for him.

Geography

McNeil stands on Farm to Market Road 1322, northeast of Luling in southern Caldwell County.

Education

McNeil had two schools in 1905. Both of them were one-teacher school buildings, with one school serving the community's 57 White students and the other school serving the community's 45

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

students. They were then joined with the Luling Independent School District in 1948. The community is still served by the Luling ISD to this day.

References

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