La Vernia is a city in Wilson County, Texas, United States. La Vernia is on the south bank of

Cibolo Creek Cibolo Creek is a stream in South Central Texas that runs approximately from its source at Turkey Knob (in the Texas Hill Country) near Boerne, Texas, to its confluence with the San Antonio River in Karnes County, Texas, Karnes County. The creek ...

at the junction of U.S. Highway 87 and Texas Farm to Market Road 775, approximately 25 miles east of downtown

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 population was 1,077 at the 2020 census. La Vernia is part of the

Metropolitan Statistical Area.

History

The La Vernia area was first inhabited by the

Coahuiltecan The Coahuiltecan were various small, autonomous bands of Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Native Americans who inhabited the Rio Grande valley in what is now northeastern Mexico and southern Texas. The various Coahuiltecan groups were hunter ga ...

speaking peoples of Texas and subsequently by nomadic bands of

Apache The Apache ( ) are several Southern Athabaskan language-speaking peoples of the Southwestern United States, Southwest, the Southern Plains and Northern Mexico. They are linguistically related to the Navajo. They migrated from the Athabascan ho ...

and

Comanche The Comanche (), or Nʉmʉnʉʉ (, 'the people'), are a Tribe (Native American), Native American tribe from the Great Plains, Southern Plains of the present-day United States. Comanche people today belong to the List of federally recognized tri ...

who migrated to Texas in the 17th century. One of the earliest land grants made was to Erastus "Deaf" Smith. Smith married Guadalupe Ruiz Durán, a Mexican citizen, who was descended from one of the original

Tejano Tejanos ( , ) are descendants of Texas Creoles and Mestizos who settled in Texas before its admission as an American state. The term is also sometimes applied to Texans of Mexican descent. Etymology The word ''Tejano'', with a ''J'' instead ...

Spanish Texas Spanish Texas was one of the interior provinces of the colonial Viceroyalty of New Spain from 1519 until 1821. Spain claimed ownership of the region in 1519. Slave raids by Spaniards into what became Texas began in the 16th century and created ...

families; and as such, received a land grant from the Mexican government on Cibolo Creek, north of present-day La Vernia in 1825. This area remained primarily unsettled by Europeans until 1837, when veterans from the

Texas Revolution The Texas Revolution (October 2, 1835 – April 21, 1836) was a rebellion of colonists from the United States and Tejanos (Hispanic Texans) against the Centralist Republic of Mexico, centralist government of Mexico in the Mexican state of ...

began to arrive. La Vernia was first settled in earnest around 1850. W. R. Wiseman of

Mississippi Mississippi ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Louisiana to the s ...

, who organized a

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a historically Reformed Protestant tradition named for its form of church government by representative assemblies of elders, known as "presbyters". Though other Reformed churches are structurally similar, the word ''Pr ...

church at the site around 1851, is said to have named the place Live Oak Grove, for a grove of trees nearby. In 1853 a

post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letter (message), letters and parcel (package), parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post o ...

was established under the name Post Oak. The town's name was changed to La Vernia in 1859. The name came from the local Spanish vernacular for green oaks (Lavernia is not Spanish for green oaks). Hence, The Brahan

Masonic lodge A Masonic lodge (also called Freemasons' lodge, or private lodge or constituent lodge) is the basic organisational unit of Freemasonry. It is also a commonly used term for a building where Freemasons meet and hold their meetings. Every new l ...

was established in 1859. The building also served as a school and church. German and Polish immigration brought the population to 110 by 1885. The community was now served by three churches, a steam

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 grinding mechanism or the building that holds it. Grist is grain that h ...

, and 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 (); ...

. During this time, the major crops grown were corn and cotton, which are still major crops in the area today. In 1890, La Vernia had a population of 200. Construction of the San Antonio and Gulf Railroad across the area in 1893 brought the population to 343 by 1900. A two-teacher school was in operation by 1896. Classes grew to be so large, that they had to move out of the Masonic lodge. The enrollment had grown to sixty-six children. By 1915, the town operated two cotton gins, a bank, four churches, a pottery plant, a brick works, and supported a population of 500. In 1947, there were seventeen businesses recorded. In 1965, population had increased to 700 residents and twenty-five businesses. The community incorporated around 1966, and in 1990, had a population of 639 and thirty-six businesses. La Vernia experienced a population drop as people began to migrate to the larger job markets available in neighboring

, Floresville and Canyon Lake. In 2000, La Vernia had 136 businesses and a population of 931. 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 2005 La Vernia had a population of 1,087 of people. In 2010 a new shopping area was built just west of town on Highway 87, including a new

H-E-B H-E-B Grocery Company, LP, is an American privately held company, privately held supermarket chain based in San Antonio, San Antonio, Texas, with more than 435 stores throughout Texas and Mexico. The company also operates Central Market (Texas) ...

grocery store and gas station. A longtime grocer, Baumann's Grocery store, closed at the time H-E-B opened.

Geography

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 ...

, La Vernia has a total area of , all land.

Demographics

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 1,077 people, 348 households, and 233 families residing in the city. As of the

of 2000, there were 931 people, 317 households, and 239 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 344 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 92.48%

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 ...

, 0.11%

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 ...

, 0.75% Native American, 0.64% Asian, 4.19% from other races, and 1.83% 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 19.98% of the population. There were 317 households, out of which 40.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 57.4% 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, 15.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 24.6% were non-families. 21.1% of all households were made up of individuals, and 12.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.65 and the average family size was 3.08. In the city, the population was spread out, with 25.1% under the age of 18, 7.1% from 18 to 24, 27.2% from 25 to 44, 17.1% from 45 to 64, and 23.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females, there were 81.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 72.5 males. The median income for a household in the city was $38,500, and the median income for a family was $46,912. Males had a median income of $35,625 versus $24,844 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 city was $19,931. About 12.5% of families and 12.3% 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 18.1% of those under age 18 and 12.6% of those age 65 or over. La Vernia has a lower crime rate compared to surrounding towns. Statistics presented are based on data collected by the FBI as part of its Uniform Crime Reporting Program. These data represent offenses reported to and arrests made by State and local law enforcement agencies as reported to the FBI. Total 347, Murder is 2, Rape are 3, Robbery is 0, Aggravated Assault has recorded 38, Burglary 70, Larceny – theft is unusually high at 228, Motor vehicle thefts is at 6, and Coverage indicator is 100%.

Education

La Vernia Independent School District with a total enrollment of 3182 students provides public education to the La Vernia. La Vernia Primary School includes grades pre-k through third grade. The newly constructed Intermediate School, opened in 2009, includes grades three to five. The building that now serves as the junior high was the first school building built for the La Vernia school district. Originally serving all grades, it now houses the sixth, seventh and eighth grades. La Vernia High School consists of grades nine to twelve. Private school education is available at La Vernia Christian Teaching Center.

Economy

La Vernia is located in the center of the Eagle Ford Shale Play, a source of

petroleum Petroleum, also known as crude oil or simply oil, is a naturally occurring, yellowish-black liquid chemical mixture found in geological formations, consisting mainly of hydrocarbons. The term ''petroleum'' refers both to naturally occurring un ...

and

natural gas Natural gas (also fossil gas, methane gas, and gas) is a naturally occurring compound of gaseous hydrocarbons, primarily methane (95%), small amounts of higher alkanes, and traces of carbon dioxide and nitrogen, hydrogen sulfide and helium ...

production, which is a significant economic driver of growth and development in

South Texas South Texas is a geographic and cultural region of the U.S. state of Texas that lies roughly south of—and includes—San Antonio. The southern and western boundary is the Rio Grande, and to the east it is the Gulf of Mexico. The population of th ...

. The largest employers are La Vernia Independent School District and Guadalupe Valley Electric Cooperative. The highest percentage of employment is in the retail trade with grocery store

being the largest employer in that industry.

Culture

The La Vernia Heritage Museum displays artifacts and memorabilia relating to the history and development of the city.

Sports

La Vernia High School fields girls teams that compete in basketball, softball, soccer, cheerleading, track & field, tennis, volleyball and golf. The school has boys teams that compete in football, baseball, basketball, soccer, track & field, tennis, wrestling and golf. La Vernia Little League has baseball and softball divisions for ages 4 to 16.

Notable people

* Dusty Jonas, Olympic high jumper * Austin Mahone, pop singer * Jane Y. McCallum, Texas Secretary of State * Hugh M. Tiner, the second president of

Pepperdine University Pepperdine University () is a private university, private Christianity, Christian research university affiliated with the Churches of Christ, with its main campus in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Pepperdine's main campus consists ...

References

External links

*
La Vernia News

{{authority control Cities in Texas Cities in Wilson County, Texas Greater San Antonio