Union is a

populated place In geography, statistics and archaeology, a settlement, locality or populated place is a community of people living in a particular place. The complexity of a settlement can range from a minuscule number of dwellings grouped together to t ...

and CDP in Wilson County, Texas, United States. The area is named for the local ghost town that was originally named "Union Valley." Today, the extant community of Union is located on FM Road 1681, about 56 miles southeast of

San Antonio San Antonio ( ; Spanish for " Saint Anthony") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio. San Antonio is the third-largest metropolitan area in Texas and the 24th-largest metropolitan area in the ...

. The cemetery—still visible—used by the town's early inhabitants, contains the grave of Jane Bowen, the wife of outlaw John Wesley Hardin.

History

The rural community was settled shortly before the start of the

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

, and following that conflict grew up as Union Valley. In 1872 the settlement received the gift of a log school house and land from Harriet Smith Beaty, which was replaced with a framed structure in 1878. Union Valley was given a post office in 1883. By 1893, the town had a population of 300 and supported three general stores, a Methodist church, a mill, a saloon, the school, and a blacksmith. The two-room schoolhouse had an enrollment of 65 in 1903. Union Valley was located very close to the nearby towns of

Albuquerque Albuquerque ( ; ), also known as ABQ, Burque, the Duke City, and in the past 'the Q', is the List of municipalities in New Mexico, most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico, and the county seat of Bernalillo County, New Mexico, Bernal ...

and Nockenut. These towns ran along the Wilson County— Gonzales County line. At night, the lights from the three towns were visible to one another. Albuquerque and Nockenut are considered

ghost town A ghost town, deserted city, extinct town, or abandoned city is an abandoned settlement, usually one that contains substantial visible remaining buildings and infrastructure such as roads. A town often becomes a ghost town because the economi ...

s as of 2020, and Union is a rural, spread out community with few families left. The Union Valley cemetery is located five miles northwest of

Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 until his resignation in 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as the 36th vice president under P ...

, off of FM 1681, between the Union Valley and the Albuquerque sites. The Mound Creek cemetery, north of Union near Nockenut, contains the grave site of John Wesley Hardin's first wife, Jane Bowen.

Name change

The post office name was changed in 1900 to the simpler "Union", and that is what the area is known as today. In 1906, when the Galveston, Harrisburg, & San Antonio Railroad by-passed the town, Union went into decline. The post office closed in 1915. In 2000, the community comprised 22 residents.

Legacy

There are two historical markers referring to Union Valley at the site of the original town, located today on private property off Texas farm-to-market highway FM 1681.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Union, Texas Wilson County, Texas Ghost towns in Texas