Newgulf (or New Gulf) 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 ...

Wharton County, Texas Wharton County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, its population was 41,570. Its county seat is Wharton. The county was named for brothers William Harris Wharton and John Austin Wharton. Wharton County ...

, United States. 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 ten in 2009. It is located within the

Greater Houston Greater Houston, designated by the United States Office of Management and Budget as Houston–The Woodlands–Sugar Land, is the fifth-most populous metropolitan statistical area in the United States, encompassing nine counties along the Gulf Co ...

metropolitan area.

History

Newgulf was founded as a company town for the Texas Gulf Sulfur Company in 1928 and is reportedly the largest

sulfur Sulfur (or sulphur in British English) is a chemical element with the symbol S and atomic number 16. It is abundant, multivalent and nonmetallic. Under normal conditions, sulfur atoms form cyclic octatomic molecules with a chemical formula ...

deposit in the world. Seth Ingram developed a land grant for the community. While it was being built, employees of the sulfur company held a contest to name the community, with Marie Ertz, who worked at the

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

office, as the winner. There were 400 dwellings, with an average of three bedrooms, built in the community as homes for the employees and their families. There were 15 businesses in the downtown area of Newgulf with a single four-lane avenue lined with stores. Businesses in the community during its peak of prosperity included a cafe, two dry-goods and grocery stores, two pharmacies, a

barber A barber is a person whose occupation is mainly to cut, dress, groom, style and shave men's and boys' hair or beards. A barber's place of work is known as a "barbershop" or a "barber's". Barbershops are also places of social interaction and publi ...

shop, a

tailor A tailor is a person who makes or alters clothing, particularly in men's clothing. The Oxford English Dictionary dates the term to the thirteenth century. History Although clothing construction goes back to prehistory, there is evidence of ...

and cleaning shop,

movie theater A movie theater (American English), cinema (British English), or cinema hall ( Indian English), also known as a movie house, picture house, the movies, the pictures, picture theater, the silver screen, the big screen, or simply theater is a ...

, three garages, a

hospital A hospital is a health care institution providing patient treatment with specialized health science and auxiliary healthcare staff and medical equipment. The best-known type of hospital is the general hospital, which typically has an emerge ...

, a

library A library is a collection of materials, books or media that are accessible for use and not just for display purposes. A library provides physical (hard copies) or digital access (soft copies) materials, and may be a physical location or a vir ...

, a post office, and a clubhouse that had a golf course with nine holes. There were also four churches for the Catholic, Methodist, Baptist, and Presbyterian congregations, two clubhouses for the Girl Scouts and

Boy Scouts Boy Scouts may refer to: * Boy Scout, a participant in the Boy Scout Movement. * Scouting, also known as the Boy Scout Movement. * An organisation in the Scouting Movement, although many of these organizations also have female members. There are ...

, and a guest lodge with two guest houses. Its population zenith was 1,586 in 1940. This developed into a close-knit community with friendships being made among the workers. There were no paved roads when the community was founded, so residents had to travel to nearby Wharton. In the late 1950s, Newgulf began its decline, with the sulfur company producing more sulfur but did not sell well, sulfur prices went down, and new plants were built elsewhere. A 1957 recession also contributed to people being laid off from their jobs. Four years later, abandoned houses were being sold. The demand for more employees was further diminished by new mining techniques and machinery. The population went down to 963 from 1980 to 1990. That year, there were 100 houses, and no businesses left in the community and residents traveled to Boling and Wharton for business. Its first clubhouse and golf course were still in the community, but it was sold to the Newgulf Athletic Club. It remains in operation today. The post office closed in 1993 and mail was sent from Boling. A

skeleton crew A skeleton crew is the minimum number of personnel needed to operate and maintain an item such as a business, organization, or ship at its most simple operating requirements. Skeleton crews are often utilized during an emergency and are meant to ...

continued to operate the sulfur mine. Its population was 10 in 2009. The

Congregation of St. Basil , image = Basilian_Fathers.png , image_size = 150px , abbreviation = CSB , nickname = Basilians , formation = , founding_location = Annonay, France , founders = , type ...

began an apostolate serving the Spanish-speaking community of Newgulf in the 1930s. Twin

smokestack A chimney is an architectural ventilation structure made of masonry, clay or metal that isolates hot toxic exhaust gases or smoke produced by a boiler, stove, furnace, incinerator, or fireplace from human living areas. Chimneys are typic ...

s are the main landmark in the community today.

Geography

Newgulf is located on Farm to Market Road 1301, east of

Wharton Wharton may refer to: Academic institutions * Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania * Wharton County Junior College * Paul R. Wharton High School * Wharton Center for Performing Arts, at Michigan State University Places * Wharton, Ch ...

and east of Boling in the extreme eastern corner of Wharton County. It is also on the Boling Dome between the

San Bernard River The San Bernard River is a river in Texas. Course San Bernard River flows from a spring near New Ulm, TexasTexas Highways http://texashighways.com/travel/item/716-now-open-san-bernard-river to its mouth on the Gulf of Mexico, some to the sou ...

and Caney Creek.

Education

The TGSC built the first school in the community. The Newgulf Independent School District was established in 1928 and two more schools were built. Newgulf and Iago had separate elementary schools with the

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

in Boling. All three communities are served by the district. They were in three separate campuses as of 1959. Elementary students were bused to Newgulf, middle schoolers to Iago, and high schoolers to Boling. As of 1995, Newgulf's functioning elementary school is part of the

Boling Independent School District Boling Independent School District is a public school district based in the community of Boling, Texas (USA). Located in Wharton County, a small portion of the district extends into Matagorda County. The district operates one high school, Boli ...

Infrastructure

Newgulf is home to New Gulf Airport, a private-use airport.

Notable person

Wayne Moses Wayne Moses (born January 11, 1955, New Gulf, Texas) is an American football coach. He most recently served as running backs coach under head coach Robb Akey at Idaho Vandals football, Idaho. Playing career College playing career Moses was a sta ...

, football coach who served as

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offen ...

coach for the

Idaho Vandals The Idaho Vandals are the intercollegiate athletic teams representing the University of Idaho, located in Moscow. The Vandals compete at the NCAA Division I level as a member of the Big Sky Conference. The football team was an independent for th ...

Gallery

File:Boling ISD Newgulf ES.JPG, Newgulf Elementary School File:Newgulf TX New Homes.JPG, New homes in Newgulf File:Newgulf TX Streets.JPG, Mostly empty tree-lined streets File:Newgulf TX Company Houses.JPG, Row of old company houses File:Newgulf TX Sulphur Plant.JPG, Closed Texas Gulf Sulphur Company plant

References

External links

Newgulf, TexasHAIF's page on NewgulfNewgulf: From Sulfur Boomtown to Texas Ghost Town. Southern Methodist University Digital Collections
{{authority control Unincorporated communities in Texas Unincorporated communities in Wharton County, Texas Company towns in Texas