Prairie Lea 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 Caldwell 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. 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 an estimated population of 255 in 2000. It is part of the

Austin Austin refers to: Common meanings * Austin, Texas, United States, a city * Austin (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Austin (surname), a list of people and fictional characters * Austin Motor Company, a British car manufac ...

–

Round Rock Round Rock is a city in Williamson County, Texas, Williamson and Travis County, Texas, United States, part of the Greater Austin metropolitan area. Its population is 119,468 according to the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. The city stra ...

Metropolitan Statistical Area.

History

The community, Caldwell County's oldest, was built on the 1820 land grant of Joe Martin of

Gonzales Gonzales may refer to: Places * Gonzales, California, U.S. * Gonzales, Louisiana, U.S. * Gonzales, Texas, U.S. * Gonzales County, Texas Other uses * Battle of Gonzales, 1835 * Gonzales (horse) (1977 – after 1996), an American-bred Thoroughbr ...

Sam Houston Samuel Houston (, ; March 2, 1793 – July 26, 1863) was an American general and statesman who played a prominent role in the Texas Revolution. He served as the first and third president of the Republic of Texas and was one of the first two indi ...

named the town for his future wife

Margaret Lea Houston Margaret Lea Houston (April 11, 1819 – December 3, 1867) was First Lady of the Republic of Texas during her husband Sam Houston's second term as President of the Republic of Texas. They met following the first of his two non-consecutive terms ...

. Edmund Bellinger, a veteran of the

Battle of San Jacinto The Battle of San Jacinto (), fought on April 21, 1836, in present-day La Porte and Deer Park, Texas, was the final and decisive battle of the Texas Revolution. Led by General Samuel Houston, the Texan Army engaged and defeated General A ...

and

Battle of Plum Creek The Battle of Plum Creek was a clash between allied Tonkawa, militia, and Rangers of the Republic of Texas and a huge Comanche war party under Chief Buffalo Hump, which took place near Lockhart, Texas, on August 12, 1840, following the Great ...

, became Prairie Lea's first settler in 1839. Other early settlers were largely slave-holding families. Growth followed the establishment of a sawmill, gristmill, and gin by Thomas Mooney on the nearby

San Marcos River The San Marcos River rises from the San Marcos Springs, the location of the Meadows Center for Water and the Environment (formerly Aquarena Springs), in San Marcos, Texas. The springs are home to several threatened or endangered species, inclu ...

. James Hugh Callihan opened the first store in the community in 1849. By 1853, there was a

hotel A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a re ...

, two stores, and a post office in Prairie Lea. During 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 ...

, men from Prairie Lea served with

John Bell Hood John Bell Hood (June 1 or June 29, 1831 – August 30, 1879) was a Confederate general during the American Civil War. Hood's impetuosity led to high losses among his troops as he moved up in rank. Bruce Catton wrote that "the decision to replace ...

Texas Brigade The Texas Brigade (also known as Hood's Brigade) was an infantry formation of the Confederate Army that distinguished itself in the American Civil War. Along with the Stonewall Brigade, they were considered the Army of Northern Virginia's shock t ...

and joined forces with an army in northern

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

and took part in the ill-fated Sibley Campaign in

New Mexico Territory The Territory of New Mexico was an organized incorporated territory of the United States from September 9, 1850, until January 6, 1912. It was created from the U.S. provisional government of New Mexico, as a result of '' Nuevo México'' becomi ...

. The community organized the men's return and provided them with food, paid for by donations and a local tax. Prairie Lea experienced a decline during the

Reconstruction era The Reconstruction era was a period in History of the United States, US history that followed the American Civil War (1861-65) and was dominated by the legal, social, and political challenges of the Abolitionism in the United States, abol ...

, and part of the town was destroyed by a fire in the 1870s. The population began to increase during the 1920s as a result of the Luling oilfield's discovery. However, the community began to decline again and by the year 1990, it had a population of 100. In 2000, it had a population of 225. Its population shrunk to 100 in 2010. Although Prairie Lea is unincorporated, it has a post office, with the ZIP Code of 78661.Zip Code Lookup
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Geography

Prairie Lea is situated along State Highway 80 in southwestern Caldwell County, approximately six miles northwest of Luling and ten miles southwest of Lockhart near the

. The nearest major city is

, located 44 miles to the north. San Marcos is located 20 miles northeast.

Education

The community's first school was organized in a log cabin in 1848. A

Masonic Freemasonry (sometimes spelled Free-Masonry) consists of fraternal groups that trace their origins to the medieval guilds of stonemasons. Freemasonry is the oldest secular fraternity in the world and among the oldest still-existing organizati ...

order established two more schools in 1852 and 1860: the Prairie Lea Academy and the Prairie Lea Female Institute opened in 1860. Two additional schools were established: a

National Grange of the Order of Patrons of Husbandry The National Grange, also known as The Grange and officially named The National Grange of the Order of Patrons of Husbandry, is a social organization in the United States that encourages families to band together to promote the economic and pol ...

school in 1878. In 1890, the community only had one school. A five-room school building was constructed in 1925, and expanded in 1926. It began to accept students from Fentress and Stairtown by the 1940s. Today, Prairie Lea, including Fentress and Stairtown, are all served by the

Prairie Lea Independent School District The Prairie Lea Independent School District is a public school district based in the community of Prairie Lea, Texas, United States. In addition to Prairie Lea, the district also serves the communities of Fentress and Stairtown as well as ru ...

. There is only one campus, Prairie Lea School, and it serves students in grades

Pre-kindergarten Pre-kindergarten (also called pre-K or PK) is a voluntary classroom-based preschool program for children below the age of five in the United States, Canada, Turkey and Greece (when kindergarten starts). It may be delivered through a preschool ...

through twelfth. It is home to the Prairie Lea Indians.

Notable person

* Scott H. Biram, musician, was raised in the community.

Gallery

> File:Prairie Lea TX ISD.jpg, Prairie Lea Independent School District building File:Prairie Lea TX Post Office.jpg, US Post Office in Prairie Lea File:Prairie Lea TX Civic Center.jpg, Tri-Community Civic Center building

References

External links

{{authority control Unincorporated communities in Caldwell County, Texas Unincorporated communities in Texas Greater Austin