Magnet is an
unincorporated community
An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...
in southeastern
Wharton County, Texas
Wharton County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, its population was 41,570. Its county seat is Wharton. The county was named for brothers William Harris Wharton and John Austin Wharton.
Wharton Count ...
, United States. The rural community is situated at the intersection of
State Highway 60 (SH 60) and County Road 102, a short distance north of the
Matagorda County
Matagorda County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, its population was 36,255. Its county seat is Bay City, not to be confused with the larger Baytown in Harris and Chambers Counties. Matagorda County i ...
line. Magnet is identified by road signs on SH 60 and by a
tall broadcasting tower. According to the
Handbook of Texas
The Texas State Historical Association (TSHA) is an American nonprofit educational and research organization dedicated to documenting the history of Texas. It was founded in Austin, Texas, United States, on March 2, 1897. In November 2008, the ...
, the community had a population of 42 in 2000. it is located within the
Greater Houston
Greater Houston, designated by the Office of Management and Budget, United States Office of Management and Budget as Houston–Pasadena–The Woodlands, is the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fifth-most populous metropolitan statistical ...
metropolitan area.
History
''Circa'' 1907, the Taylor-Fowler Land Company of
Oklahoma
Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...
laid out a town on the
Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway
The Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway (GC&SF) was chartered in Texas in 1873 to build a railroad from Galveston, Texas, to Santa Fe, New Mexico. By 1886, it had built from Galveston to a junction in Temple, Texas, which was founded by the co ...
. In 1911, Frank D. and Fred Fowler began selling 12,000 acres, promoting the area's rich soil. The same year, a post office was opened. According to one story, the town was named Magnet because the good soil would draw potential farmers. Another account claimed it was because saloons there would attract drinkers from Bay City, which was dry. In 1912, the new town boasted a few grocery stores plus a drugstore, gristmill, hotel, and lumberyard. Within two years, there were forty persons living in Magnet alongside a blacksmith shop, canning factory, cotton gin, garage, two general stores, rice grower, and the Truck Growers Association.
In 1925, the first producing oil well in Wharton County was drilled in the Boling Field near
Iago
Iago () is a fictional character in Shakespeare's '' Othello'' (c. 1601–1604). Iago is the play's main antagonist and Othello's standard-bearer. He is the husband of Emilia who is in turn the attendant of Othello's wife Desdemona. Iago ha ...
. This started a 1920s oil drilling boom during which the Magnet Withers Field was first exploited.
[
By the 1930s, there were 50 residents of Magnet. The discovery of additional nearby oil in 1937 did not increase the population. By 1943, the post office operated out of the sole remaining commercial establishment in the community. By 1949, there were only 20 persons in Magnet and the post office closed in 1954. Between 1968 and 2000, the population was 42. In the latter year, no businesses were reported in Magnet.][ In 2004, the ]BNSF Railway
BNSF Railway is the largest freight railroad in the United States. One of six North American Class I railroads, BNSF has 36,000 employees, of track in 28 states, and over 8,000 locomotives. It has three Transcontinental railroad, transcontine ...
applied to discontinue of the line from Bay City north to Cane Junction and then northeast to Newgulf, because there had been no rail traffic for two years. This stretch of track included Magnet. In 2012, Milagro Oil and Gas, Inc. drilled three successful wells in the Magnet Withers field.
Geography
Magnet is on the east side of SH 60 a distance of north of Bay City and southeast of Wharton. The Old Lane City Magnet Road runs parallel and east of SH 60; it goes northwest to Lane City. There are about two dozen homes clustered at Magnet and along Mauldin Road, which goes to the northeast.
Education
By 1912 there was a school in Magnet. In 1926, the Magnet school employed three teachers to instruct 130 white and five black students. A 1936 map depicted two schools. The schools became part of the Wharton Independent School District in 1947.[
File:Magnet TX Sign.JPG, Magnet sign and broadcasting tower are on Highway 60.
File:Magnet TX Baptist Church.JPG, Magnet Baptist Church is on County Road 102.
File:Magnet TX Broadcast Tower.JPG, The broadcasting tower is a prominent landmark.
]
References
{{authority control
Unincorporated communities in Wharton County, Texas
Unincorporated communities in Texas