DeWalt or Dewalt was an

unincorporated area 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 ...

Fort Bend County Fort Bend County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. The county was founded in 1837 and organized the next year. It is named for a blockhouse at a bend of the Brazos River. The community developed around the fort in early days. The ...

, 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 ...

. The former community was located on State Highway 6 (SH 6) between Oilfield Road and

Farm to Market Road 1092 Farm to Market Road 1092 (FM 1092) is a state highway in the U.S. state of Texas that is within both Fort Bend and Harris Counties. The highway starts from State Highway 6 (SH 6) in Missouri City and goes north to Interstate 69/ U.S. Route 5 ...

(FM 1092). DeWalt has been absorbed by the municipality of

Missouri City Missouri City is a city in the U.S. state of Texas, within the metropolitan area. The city is mostly in Fort Bend County, with a small portion in Harris County. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 74,259, up from 67,35 ...

, a

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 ...

suburb. Though Dewalt was noted on highway signs as late as 2013, there are few surviving structures and locations from the original community. In 2006, the Dew Plantation's house was moved from DeWalt to nearby Kitty Hollow Park to preserve it as a museum. The private Dewalt Cemetery still exists within the Lake Olympia subdivision.

Geography

DeWalt was situated along SH 6 near its junctions with Oilfield Road (now Scenic Rivers Drive), which goes west, and DeWalt Road (now Lake Olympia Parkway), which heads east. A second source placed DeWalt about a mile northeast at SH 6 and FM 1092. Both intersections are surrounded now by commercial and residential areas. DeWalt was about southeast of

U.S. Route 59 U.S. Route 59 (US 59) is a north–south United States highway (though it was signed east–west in parts of Texas). A latecomer to the U.S. numbered route system, US 59 is now a border-to-border route, part of the NAFTA Corridor Highway Sy ...

(US 59) in

Sugar Land Sugar Land is the largest city in Fort Bend County, Texas, United States, located in the southwestern part of the metropolitan area. Located about southwest of downtown Houston, Sugar Land is a populous suburban municipality centered around th ...

. Lake Olympia Parkway crosses southeast-flowing Oyster Creek by a bridge about east of SH 6. The private, gated DeWalt Cemetery is located east within a neighborhood near Lake Olympia Parkway. DeWalt (as "Dewalt") is still used in

FCC The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains jurisdiction ...

records as the geographical location for some services broadcasting from the several tall towers northeast of the original community. The historic Dew Plantation House had been in DeWalt. It was moved about southeast to county-operated Kitty Hollow Park in 2006 by Fort Bend County and the Fort Bend Museum Association. The building was renovated and now serves as the DeWalt Heritage Center. The DeWalt Heritage Society was formed as part of the Fort Bend County Museum Association to oversee preservation. File:Dewalt TX Dew Plantation.JPG, In 2006 the Dew Plantation House was moved to Kitty Hollow Park to serve as a museum. File:Dewalt TX 1850 Cemetery.JPG, The private DeWalt Cemetery in Missouri City was established in 1850. File:DeWalt TX Dew House Site.JPG, The original homesite for the Dew House along Highway 6 north of Oilfield Road was for sale in 2013.

History

There was a sugar plantation in the vicinity in the 1850s owned by Thomas Waters DeWalt. After the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same 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 ...

, which ended in 1865, the plantation was subdivided and populated by an

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...

community. By 1914, 100 people lived in DeWalt. The

Sugar Land Railway Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose, fructose, and galactose. Compound sugars, also called disaccharides or double s ...

passed through the town starting in 1912 until about 1980. Missouri City acquired the previously unincorporated area with annexations in 1965 and 1980.

Government and infrastructure

Fort Bend County does not have a

hospital district Hospital is a district of the San José canton, in the San José province of Costa Rica. It is one of the four administrative units that form San José downtown properly. The district houses, along with Merced district, the main commercial ac ...

. OakBend Medical Center serves as the county's

charity hospital Charity may refer to: Giving * Charitable organization or charity, a non-profit organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being of persons * Charity (practice), the practice of being benevolent, giving and sharing * Ch ...

which the county contracts with.

Education

DeWalt had been in Missouri City Independent School District prior to its consolidation into

Fort Bend Independent School District The Fort Bend Independent School District, also known as Fort Bend ISD or FBISD, is a school district system in the U.S. state of Texas based in the city of Sugar Land. The district spans covering almost all of the city of Sugar Land, the city ...

in 1959.

References

{{Fort Bend County, Texas Missouri City, Texas Populated places in Fort Bend County, Texas