Flatonia is a town in southwestern Fayette County,

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

, United States. Located on

Interstate 10 Interstate 10 (I-10) is the southernmost transcontinental highway in the Interstate Highway System of the United States. It is the fourth-longest Interstate in the country at , following I-90, I-80, and I-40. It was part of the origina ...

and the

Union Pacific Railroad The Union Pacific Railroad is a Railroad classes, Class I freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Pacific is the second largest railroad in the United Stat ...

, west of Schulenburg, the population was 1,308 at the 2020 census.

History

File:Flatonia, Texas in 1881.jpg, Flatonia in 1881 Established on April 8, 1874, on land that the

Galveston, Harrisburg and San Antonio Railway The Buffalo Bayou, Brazos, and Colorado Railway (B.B.B.C. or B.B.B. & C.), also called the Harrisburg Road or Harrisburg Railroad, was the first operating railroad in Texas. It completed its first segment of track between Harrisburg, Texas (now a ...

acquired from William Alexander Faries (the

family name In many societies, a surname, family name, or last name is the mostly hereditary portion of one's personal name that indicates one's family. It is typically combined with a given name to form the full name of a person, although several give ...

is also spelled "Ferris" and "Farris"), the community was named after F. W. Flato, a local merchant and one of the first settlers, of whom most were Anglo American. Residents placed their homes in the former Flatonia settlement, one mile southeast of the current Flatonia, and in the community of Oso, northeast, on wagons and moved to the new location. The post office, established in the former Flatonia in 1870, moved to the new Flatonia with the same name. Flatonia was incorporated on November 10, 1875, and held its first election on December 6 of that year. In 1878, the town had 800 residents and an economy dependent on cattle and cotton. The location of the railway and inexpensive real estate led to the arrival of

Arab Arabs (, , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world. Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of years ...

Bohemia Bohemia ( ; ; ) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. In a narrow, geographic sense, it roughly encompasses the territories of present-day Czechia that fall within the Elbe River's drainage basin, but historic ...

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

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, and

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immigrants in several waves. The north-south line of the

Waco Waco ( ) is a city in and the county seat of McLennan County, Texas, United States. It is situated along the Brazos River and I-35, halfway between Dallas and Austin. The city had a U.S. census estimated 2024 population of 146,608, making i ...

branch of the

San Antonio and Aransas Pass Railway The San Antonio and Aransas Pass Railway first began operation in the U.S. state of Texas in 1886. It was developed by Uriah Lott and businessmen of San Antonio as a direct route from the city to Aransas Bay on the Texas Gulf coast. It was eventu ...

opened in the mid-1880s, leading to new settlements of Muldoon and Moulton. Competition from the settlements, respectively north and south of Flatonia, and an agricultural depression damaged Flatonia's economy. By 1900, Flatonia experienced a significant decline in population. During the first half of the 20th century, Flatonia's prospects increased and decreased according to the national economy and cattle and cotton markets. In 1950 Flatonia had 1,024 residents, 50 businesses, and a wide farm and ranch service area. By the 1960s, cotton no longer was a substantial aspect of the area economy; therefore many area farms began to ranch cattle. During that time the population was between 1,000 and 1,500.

(I-10) opened in the 1970s, leading many tourist businesses to move from

U.S. Highway 90 U.S. Route 90 or U.S. Highway 90 (US 90) is an east–west major United States highway in the Southern United States. Despite the "0" in its route number, US 90 never was a full coast-to-coast route. It generally travels near Int ...

to I-10, one mile north of Highway 90. In 1985, Flatonia had 69 businesses. In 1990, Flatonia had 1,295 residents.

Geography

Flatonia is located in southwestern Fayette County. U.S. Route 90 passes through the center of town as Main Street, leading east to Schulenburg and west 12 miles to Waelder. Texas State Highway 95 intersects US 90 in the center of Flatonia, entering from the south as Faires Street and from the north as Penn Street. Highway 95 leads south to Shiner and north to Smithville.

passes through the northern side of Flatonia, with access from Exit 661 (Highway 95). I-10 leads east to

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

and west to

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 ...

. According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, Flatonia has a total area of , of which , or 1.01%, is water.

Climate

Flatonia has hot, dry summers and mild, wet winters. Summers range in the 90s with a few days in July and August reaching 100. Winters can be chilly but rarely reach below freezing; low winter temperatures are mostly in the fifties or forties. Snow is rare.

Demographics

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 1,308 people, 496 households, and 412 families residing in the town. As of the

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of 2000, there were 1,377 people, 504 households, and 347 families residing in the town. The population density was . There were 568 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the town was 74.07%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 7.48%

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 0.94% Native American, 16.85% from other races, and 0.65% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race were 36.17% of the population. There were 504 households, out of which 33.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.4% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

living together, 11.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31.0% were non-families. 27.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 15.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.62 and the average family size was 3.21. In the town, the population was spread out, with 26.9% under the age of 18, 8.2% from 18 to 24, 25.4% from 25 to 44, 20.5% from 45 to 64, and 19.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females, there were 98.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.8 males. The median income for a household in the town was $27,000, and the median income for a family was $31,471. Males had a median income of $23,700 versus $16,429 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the town was $12,329. About 18.9% of families and 23.4% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including 33.4% of those under age 18 and 27.4% of those age 65 or over.

Arts and culture

Annual cultural events

Many residents of Flatonia are of Czech, Slovak, German, or other Central European heritage. The local "Czhilispiel" festival is named for

Czech people The Czechs (, ; singular Czech, masculine: ''Čech'' , singular feminine: ''Češka'' ), or the Czech people (), are a West Slavic ethnic group and a nation native to the Czech Republic in Central Europe, who share a common ancestry, culture, ...

and their popular chili.

Museums and other points of interest

The abandoned Flatonia Railroad Tower, in use from 1902 to 1996, was one of Texas' longest standing, manually operated

railroad switch A railroad switch (American English, AE), turnout, or (set of) points (Commonwealth English, CE) is a mechanical installation enabling railway trains to be guided from one Rail tracks, track to another, such as at a Junction (rail), ...

ing towers with north-south and east-west cross rails. The tower was damaged in an automobile accident on January 9, 2014. The E. A. Arnim Archives and Museum has a collection of antique furniture, household items, clothing and historical documents used by the early settlers of Flatonia. There is a

livery stable A livery yard, livery stable or boarding stable, is a stable where horse owners pay a weekly or monthly fee to keep their horses. A livery or boarding yard is not usually a riding school and the horses are not normally for hire (unless on wor ...

behind the museum with wagons, buggies, and vintage tack and farm implements.

Education

The town is served by the Flatonia Independent School District. Campuses include the Flatonia Elementary School and Flatonia Secondary School.Secondary School
." '' Flatonia Independent School District''. Retrieved on January 27, 2009.

Photo gallery

Image:Downtown Flatonia 3 Wiki (1 of 1).jpg, Downtown Flatonia Image:Flatonia Tower Wiki (1 of 1).jpg, Flatonia Tower No.3 Image:Downtown Flatonia 2 Wiki (1 of 1).jpg, Downtown Flatonia Image:Stein Building Flatonia Wiki (1 of 1).jpg, William Stein Building Image:Downtown Flatonia 1 Wiki (1 of 1).jpg, Downtown Flatonia Image:Flatonia Masonic Lodge Wiki (1 of 1).jpg, Flatonia Masonic Lodge Image:Miller Building Flatonia Wiki (1 of 1).jpg, Miller Building Image:Olle Hotel Flatonia Wiki (1 of 1).jpg, Olle Hotel