Pipe Creek 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 Bandera County,

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 ...

. 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 ...

, it had a population of approximately 66 in 1990. It is part of 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= U.S. state, State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , s ...

Metropolitan Statistical Area In the United States, a metropolitan statistical area (MSA) is a geographical region with a relatively high population density at its core and close economic ties throughout the area. Such regions are neither legally Incorporated town, incorporate ...

History

A post office called Pipe Creek has been in operation since 1873. The community was named from Pipe Creek and was founded around 1870. Francis Marion Hodges was the first settler in the community in 1868. Oliver S. Shirley then settled two years later. Seventy more families moved to the area during the first decade of the town's development. Surnames of local settlers included Scott, Anderson, Newcomer, Vawter, and Morgenstern. A.M. Beekman was the first postmaster in the community. Its post office's name was changed to Pipecreek for a small amount of time in 1895. Francis Marion Hodges' wife opened the community's first store in the 1870s and another was opened by W.J. Hamilton. A

cotton gin A cotton gin—meaning "cotton engine"—is a machine that quickly and easily separates cotton fibers from their seeds, enabling much greater productivity than manual cotton separation.. Reprinted by McGraw-Hill, New York and London, 1926 (); a ...

and a

gristmill A gristmill (also: grist mill, corn mill, flour mill, feed mill or feedmill) grinds cereal grain into flour and Wheat middlings, middlings. The term can refer to either the Mill (grinding), grinding mechanism or the building that holds it. Grist i ...

operated in Pipe Creek by the early 1880s and served 100 residents. Locals were mostly

farmers A farmer is a person engaged in agriculture, raising living organisms for food or raw materials. The term usually applies to people who do some combination of raising field crops, orchards, vineyards, poultry, or other livestock. A farmer mi ...

and

ranchers A ranch (from es, rancho/Mexican Spanish) is an area of land, including various structures, given primarily to ranching, the practice of raising grazing livestock such as cattle and sheep. It is a subtype of a farm. These terms are most often ...

, who raised

cotton Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus ''Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose, and can contain minor perce ...

corn Maize ( ; ''Zea mays'' subsp. ''mays'', from es, maíz after tnq, mahiz), also known as corn (North American and Australian English), is a cereal grain first domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 10,000 years ago. Th ...

cattle Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, cloven-hooved, herbivores. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus ''Bos''. Adult females are referred to as cows and adult mal ...

sheep Sheep or domestic sheep (''Ovis aries'') are domesticated, ruminant mammals typically kept as livestock. Although the term ''sheep'' can apply to other species in the genus ''Ovis'', in everyday usage it almost always refers to domesticated s ...

, and produced

molasses Molasses () is a viscous substance resulting from refining sugarcane or sugar beets into sugar. Molasses varies in the amount of sugar, method of extraction and age of the plant. Sugarcane molasses is primarily used to sweeten and flavour foods ...

. Travel and mail delivery were provided by

stagecoach A stagecoach is a four-wheeled public transport coach used to carry paying passengers and light packages on journeys long enough to need a change of horses. It is strongly sprung and generally drawn by four horses although some versions are draw ...

es from

Bandera Bandera - from a Spanish word meaning a ''flag'' - may refer to: Places * Bandera County, Texas ** Bandera, Texas, its county seat ** Bandera Creek, a river in Texas, with its source near Bandera Pass ** Bandera Pass, a mountain pass in Bandera C ...

. A First Baptist congregation was established in the community in 1886. Pipe Creek's population was estimated to be 100 during the start of the 20th century. 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 was then established in 1904, with a telephone line being installed in the community's general store four years later. The population declined to 25 by the 1920s. It then increased to 150 when electric service was installed there in 1941. It continued to jump to 220 in the 1950s and 60s when several subdivisions were built in the vicinity. One source says there were about 25 subdivisions in the community. The population then plunged to 66 by the 1970s and remained at that level through 1990. The eaarly part of that decade saw construction, auto, and real estate businesses being establishedd, as well as a restaurant, a

hardware store Hardware stores (in a number of countries, "shops"), sometimes known as DIY stores, sell household hardware for home improvement including: fasteners, building materials, hand tools, power tools, keys, locks, hinges, chains, plumbing suppli ...

, a community center, and several churches. Many residents commuted to Bandera and San Antonio for work. There is a Texas Historical Marker in the community noting the English-Cristda house, a lodging stop for people who traveled there in the late 1800s and early 1900s. The

American Goat Society The American Goat Society or AGS is a United States corporation located in Pipe Creek, Texas and run by the Kowalik family. The corporation was founded in New York City in 1935 by goat breeders and dedicated to preserving and improving the pedigree ...

is headquartered in the community.

Geography

Pipe Creek is located on

Texas State Highway 16 State Highway 16 (SH 16) is a south–north state highway in the U.S. state of Texas that runs from Zapata on the boundary with Mexico to U.S. Highway 281 south of Wichita Falls. It is the longest state highway in Texas at almost , but is o ...

, about east of

and north of

in central Bandera County. Other notable places located in Pipe Creek include churches, the public library, and parts of the Bandera Falls residential community. Large portions of the area are accessed from FM1283.

Education

Pipe Creek's first school was built in 1881 near the local cemetery. The First Baptist, other Baptist, and other denominations held church services at the schoolhouse in 1886. Another school named Deskin School was established in 1913 and consolidated with the one in Pipe Creek in 1924. Another school was built in 1948 and consolidated with the Bandera ISD two years later. The

Bandera Independent School District Bandera Independent School District is a public school district based in Bandera, Texas (USA). In addition to Bandera, the district also serves the communities of Lakehills, Bandera Falls, Pipe Creek, and Tarpley. Finances As of the 2010- ...

serves area students. The Bandera Independent School District also consists of both private and public schools. Pipe Creek is also served by the

Northside Independent School District Northside Independent School District is a school district headquartered in Leon Valley, Texas. It is the largest school district in the San Antonio area and the fourth largest in the State of Texas. Northside serves of urban landscape, subur ...

in San Antonio, Texas. Two local schools include Hill Country Elementary School and Pipe Creek Christian School.

References

{{authority control Unincorporated communities in Bandera County, Texas Greater San Antonio Unincorporated communities in Texas