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Simonton is a city in Fort Bend 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, within the Houston–Sugar Land–Baytown metropolitan area. Simonton is located at the intersection of Farm roads 1093 and 1489, approximately fourteen miles northwest of
Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, a city in the United States * Richmond, London, a town in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town ...
and five miles west of Fulshear. As of the 2020 U.S. Census, the city population was 647, down from 814 at the 2010 census.


History


The Simonton Plantation

The first event that shaped Simonton's history was when James Simonton and his brother Theophilus bought 4000 acres of land in northwestern Fort Bend County in the 1840s. The two Simonton brothers built a plantation next to the
Brazos River The Brazos River ( , ), called the ''Río de los Brazos de Dios'' (translated as "The River of the Arms of God") by early Spanish explorers, is the 14th-longest river in the United States at from its headwater source at the head of Blackwater ...
, on which they raised cotton. The year 1850 is officially designated as the founding year for Simonton, since the 1850 US Census showed the two brothers, their mother, Mary, and Theophilus's wife and two sons residing on the property. Another brother, Joseph, and his family moved to the plantation in the 1850s. In 1857, Theophilus helped charter the Richmond
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 ...
Hall Association, symbolizing the elite status of the Simonton family in Fort Bend County. The town of Simonton joined Fulshear and Pittsville as the main rural towns in northwestern Fort Bend County.


American Civil War

At the onset of 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 ...
, the 1860 US Census showed that the Simontons owned one of the largest and most prosperous plantations in Fort Bend County, with a real property value at $200,000 and personal property valued at $155,000. The Simonton brothers have been identified as among the largest slaveholders in Texas. According to the 1860 US census and a subsequent research, there were 105 slaves on the Simonton plantation on the eve of the Civil War. This census also revealed that their plantation had 975 improved acres that produced 11,000 bushels of corn and 600 bales of cotton. Like many Texas plantation owners, they supported the Confederacy.
On January 4, 1864, Joseph, James, and Theo Simonton wrote General J.B. Magruder that they were about to place in Confederate service about 40
laves Laves may refer to: * Fritz Laves (1906-1978), a German mineralogist and crystallographer, best known for his description of the intermetallic Laves phases. * Georg Ludwig Friedrich Laves (December 15, 1788 – April 30, 1864) a leading neoclassi ...
... The three brothers did not enlist in the Confederate army, but this donation of slaves to the Confederate cause was certainly a material contribution to the cause. After the war, on July 18, 1965 ic James Simoton icsigned an amnesty oath to the United States of America."


Post-Civil War Reconstruction

The plantation was broken up and sold after the war. Tracts of land were sold to incoming settlers. The Simontons actively resisted the post-Civil War
Reconstruction Reconstruction may refer to: Politics, history, and sociology *Reconstruction (law), the transfer of a company's (or several companies') business to a new company *''Perestroika'' (Russian for "reconstruction"), a late 20th century Soviet Union ...
efforts. During the Fort Bend Jaybird-Woodpecker political battles during post-Civil War Reconstruction, the Simonton brothers joined the Jaybirds, a faction within the Democratic Party, who wanted to oust the Woodpeckers, primarily blacks and their white allies, from the county administration. In October 1888 in nearby Pittsville, Theophilus Simonton Jr. was arrested by the county sheriff for fatally shooting a local black leader, Lamar Johnson, and injuring his half-brother, Taylor Randonan. This incident gained regional and national attention for the deep racial divisions of the Jaybird-Woodpecker War raging throughout Fort Bend County.


End of the Pioneer Era

The Simonton family's position and presence gradually dwindled after the deaths of the pioneer brothers and the influx of European immigrants who passed through
Galveston Galveston ( ) is a Gulf Coast of the United States, coastal resort town, resort city and port off the Southeast Texas coast on Galveston Island and Pelican Island (Texas), Pelican Island in the U.S. state of Texas. The community of , with a pop ...
during the late 19th and early 20th Century.
Theophilus Simonton died by February 2, 1867, the date on which his will was probated. Although he had lost his slaves by the time of his death, his estate was valued at $1,311,010, a considerable sum by the standards of Reconstruction Texas. James died before June 2, 1892, when his will was probated. His estate was valued at $9,014 at that time.
Their deaths accompanied by the industrial revolution that was sweeping the United States drastically altered the economic means, and thus the social and political roles, in Simonton as well as throughout Fort Bend Country. According to oral history documentation, the
Ku Klux Klan The Ku Klux Klan (), commonly shortened to KKK or Klan, is an American Protestant-led Christian terrorism, Christian extremist, white supremacist, Right-wing terrorism, far-right hate group. It was founded in 1865 during Reconstruction era, ...
was present in Simonton from the early 20th Century, as they were in many Texas small towns, and were especially active due to the influx of foreign-born immigrants, who moved to Simonton to work as farm and ranch help for the local cattle ranches and pecan groves.Duggan, B. (September 12, 1015). "Oral Interview with Charlie Morgan." Fort Bend County Historical Commission Oral History Committee. Retrieved from https://www.fortbendcountytx.gov/home/showdocument?id=40578


From Busy Town to Quiet Crossroads Community

The next event shaping Simonton history was the advent, around 1888, of the San Antonio and Aransas Pass Railroad. It is said the company wanted the track to run through Pittsville (near what is now Fulshear) where the terrain was more level. However, the landowners in that area refused to sell the railroad a right-of-way because they believed the trains would scare their cattle. The line was therefore laid across the hills and creeks between Fulshear and Simonton. Water was as necessary as coal for the steam-powered locomotives, and Simonton became one of the main watering stops. With the tracks, came the people. With the tracks also came the opportunity to ship the area's farm produce to other parts of the country. In subsequent years, Simonton developed into a robust agricultural community. Snap shots of this history have been noted in several oral historical accounts: * Red Potato Farming. In 1906, D.H. (Dave) Mullins, who came to Simonton from Kansas, began growing potatoes on a commercial scale – 150 acres that first year. Later he and J.R. Spencer, also from Kansas, working together, planted 1000 acres of red potatoes. Other farmers followed suit; and during one of the best years, 800 railroad cars of potatoes were shipped out of Simonton to places like Chicago, Kansas City, and Cincinnati. The Simonton area became one of the country's major producers of red potatoes. Gradually the red potato demand dwindled due to the onset of a disease and
Luther Burbank Luther Burbank (March 7, 1849 – April 11, 1926) was an American botanist, horticulturist, and pioneer in agricultural science who developed more than 800 strains and varieties of plants over his 55-year career. Burbank primarily worked with ...
's development of the white potato. In its place, alfalfa, cotton, pecans, and pure-bred cattle ranching replaced the acres of potatoes. * Pure-bred
Cattle Ranching A ranch (from /Mexican Spanish) is an area of land, including various structures, given primarily to ranching, the practice of raising grazing livestock such as cattle and sheep. It is a subtype of farm. These terms are most often applied to li ...
. The Simonton-Fulshear-Brookshire became known as the "River Oaks of the pure-bred cattle business" and was tied in closely with the annual Houston Livestock Show. The pure-bred breeders in the community included the Diamond C Ranch ( Herefords), Pecan Acres (
Brahman cattle In Hinduism, ''Brahman'' (; International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration, IAST: ''Brahman'') connotes the highest universal principle, the ultimate reality of the universe.P. T. Raju (2006), ''Idealistic Thought of India'', Routledge, ...
), Figure 4 Ranch ( Charolais,
Brahman In Hinduism, ''Brahman'' (; IAST: ''Brahman'') connotes the highest universal principle, the ultimate reality of the universe.P. T. Raju (2006), ''Idealistic Thought of India'', Routledge, , page 426 and Conclusion chapter part XII In the ...
, and Charbray), and the Bar C Ranch (Brahman, Charbray, and Charolais). *
Prison farm A prison farm (also known as a penal farm) is a large correctional facility where penal labor convicts work legally or illegally on a farm (in the wide sense of a productive unit), usually for manual labor, largely in the open air, such as in ...
. From 1898 to 1909, Simonton was the site of a prison farm. A Captain South was in charge of convicts who cleared the land from Simonton to the Brazos River for farming of ribbon cane for syrup. Until very recently, a barn used by these convicts as a mess hall, bars still on the windows, stood near the Simonton crossroads. * Busy Town. During the years that agriculture output was important, Simonton developed a busy "downtown". There were as many as three general stores. One, owned by A.A. (Tom) Mullins, offered a hotel on the second floor with potato buyers and railroad men as regular guests. Another hotel located in the Scruggs home, was run by a Mrs. Bentley, whose culinary skills made Simonton a favored meal stop for travelers. There was also a
blacksmith shop A blacksmith is a metalsmith who creates objects primarily from wrought iron or steel, but sometimes from #Other metals, other metals, by forging the metal, using tools to hammer, bend, and cut (cf. tinsmith). Blacksmiths produce objects such ...
, two
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 (); ...
s, a
lumber yard A lumber yard is a location where lumber and wood-related products used in construction and/or home improvement projects are processed or stored. Some lumber yards offer retail sales to consumers, and some of these may also provide services s ...
, a post office and the railroad depot. * Education. In 1893, the first school for white students was established in Simonton. A census of eligible school children taken in 1911 revealed 544 students. In 1925, noted Houston architect Louis Glover designed this two-story school for nine grades. The art deco-style building which exists today has a "stuccoed brick symmetrical façade with porticoes, grouped windows and ornamentation tiles." In subsequent years in the
Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...
, the facility was used to host dances, suppers, elections, and church services, The school was annexed into the Lamar Consolidated ISD in 1950. The school for black students was also established. * H. Berkman & Co. General Store.Goodsill, J, and B. Kelly. (October 7, 2010). "Oral Interview with Maurice Berkman." Fort Bend County Historical Commission Oral History Committee. Retrieved from https://www.fortbendcountytx.gov/home/showdocument?id=30518 It was built by Hyman "Harry" Berkman, who came to Simonton from Poland in 1913, during the agricultural boom in Simonton in the early 20th century. The store contained the post office, the general store, and
butcher shop A butcher is a person who may slaughter animals, dress their flesh, sell their meat, or participate within any combination of these three tasks. They may prepare standard cuts of meat and poultry for sale in retail or wholesale food establishme ...
. Maurice and Flo Berkman (married June 24, 1956), who were members of the now defunct Jewish
synagogue A synagogue, also called a shul or a temple, is a place of worship for Jews and Samaritans. It is a place for prayer (the main sanctuary and sometimes smaller chapels) where Jews attend religious services or special ceremonies such as wed ...
in Warton, Texas, operated store for more than 62 years until their retirement and subsequent move to Houston. *Dwindling Population. As agricultural output declined and railroad traffic dwindled, people started moving away, mostly 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 ...
with its growing industry and higher wages. The depot closed in 1953; and it wasn't long before the last cotton gin closed down. Eventually, what was left was a small café, a pecan barn, the post office, a small liquor store and Berkman's general store. Gradually by 1957, Simonton had changed from a busy small town to a quiet crossroads community. Then came the beginnings of a new stage in the life of the town. Vernon Evans, owner of the nearby Rue Ranch, and his son-in-law, A.E. "Snake" Bailey, bought 850 acres of land along FM 1093 to be developed as a western community with stables and a small arena and club house, the hub around which houses would be built. The development was called Valley Lodge. Valley Lodge subdivision was the first subdivision out of the city of Houston within commuting distance.
File:Gathering potatoes in Fort Bend County, Tx LCCN2012646375.jpg, Harvesting potatoes in Fort Bend County, Tx


International VIP – Chinese Vice Premier Deng Xiaoping's 1979 Visit to the Simonton Rodeo

In the months following the Sino-US normalization, China's Vice Premier
Deng Xiaoping Deng Xiaoping also Romanization of Chinese, romanised as Teng Hsiao-p'ing; born Xiansheng (). (22 August 190419 February 1997) was a Chinese statesman, revolutionary, and political theorist who served as the paramount leader of the People's R ...
visited the United States for nine days in 1979, visiting Washington, Atlanta, Houston and Seattle. On February 2 during his visit to Houston, he spent an evening in Simonton at the Roundup Rodeo. In 1963 the Round Up was built on FM 1093. Also the brainchild of "Snake" Bailey, it is a large indoor rodeo arena in full swing every Saturday night, drawing people from Houston and elsewhere for a taste of the "real west." He rode in a stagecoach, and later a barrel racer gave the premier a cowboy-style duster and a ten-gallon hat, both of which he donned and displayed before the crowd. Deng's visit to the Simonton rodeo is considered to be the tipping point in the thaw of US-China relations. The Simonton Rodeo closed by 1997 when it was bought and restored by Benchmark Wireline, an oil services company. A China Daily Global video captures the memories of this visit, including Katie Van Dries whose father Luke owned the rodeo at that time. The photographs of Deng in the cowboy hat appeared in American newspapers, displaying a distinctly human side to a previously mysterious Chinese leader. As Ezra F. Vogel, a biographer of Deng, put it, the
"photograph of Deng smiling beneath his ten-gallon hat became the symbol of his visit. It signaled to the U.S. public that he was not only good-humored, but, after all, less like one of 'those Communists' and more like 'us.'" With live broadcasts back to China, these events made news for Deng's home audience, too.
The Stetson hat is displayed in the
National Museum of China The National Museum of China is an art museum, art and history museum located on the eastern side of Tiananmen Square in Beijing. The National Museum of China has a total construction area of about 200,000 square meters, a collection of more than ...
in the center of the exhibit hall which focuses on Deng. This excitement generated change Sino-American perceptions of each other, as exemplified in a Chinese Foreign Ministry vide
"The Cowboy-Hat and "Deng Whirlwind — The First Visit to the United States by a Leader of New China."


City Incorporated

In 1979, the community incorporated as the City of Simonton. The population grew to 603 in 1980 and 718 in 2000. In 2010 the population was 814.


Geography

Simonton is located in northwestern Fort Bend County at (29.679783, –95.990302). The center of town is east of the
Brazos River The Brazos River ( , ), called the ''Río de los Brazos de Dios'' (translated as "The River of the Arms of God") by early Spanish explorers, is the 14th-longest river in the United States at from its headwater source at the head of Blackwater ...
and northwest of Rosenberg. Downtown
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 ...
is to the east. 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 ...
, Simonton has a total area of , of which , or 0.24%, is water. Almost all of the City is located within the
Federal Emergency Management Agency The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is an agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS), initially created under President Jimmy Carter by Presidential Reorganization Plan No. 3 of 1978 and implemented by two Exec ...
(FEMA) 100-year floodplain of the Brazos River. See the FEMA Preliminary Map 2017.1.30 panel 80 and FEMA Preliminary Map 2017.1.30 panel 90. Real-time river gauges for the Brazos River are available here. Simonton has been plagued by repeated flooding due to being located one mile east of the
Brazos River The Brazos River ( , ), called the ''Río de los Brazos de Dios'' (translated as "The River of the Arms of God") by early Spanish explorers, is the 14th-longest river in the United States at from its headwater source at the head of Blackwater ...
, and it considered to located in the 100-year
floodplain A floodplain or flood plain or bottomlands is an area of land adjacent to a river. Floodplains stretch from the banks of a river channel to the base of the enclosing valley, and experience flooding during periods of high Discharge (hydrolog ...
of the Brazos River. The most significant Brazos River flooding recorded were: * 1913 Major Flood. *October 1991 with 100 homes flooded * December 1995 with 125 homes flooded and caused approximately $2.5 million dollars damage * May 2016 when cows became stranded. * August 2017 as a result of
Hurricane Harvey Hurricane Harvey was a devastating tropical cyclone that made landfall in Texas and Louisiana in August 2017, causing catastrophic flooding and more than 100 deaths. It is tied with 2005's Hurricane Katrina as the costliest tropical cy ...
. While plagued by flooding, the City of Simonton purchased two drainage pumps for $95,000 that has reduced the impact of the Brazos River flooding. These pumps were partly paid for by a grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency's Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP).


Demographics


2020 census

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 647 people, 229 households, and 188 families residing in the city.


2000 Census

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 718 people, 264 households, and 206 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 282 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 91.64%
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 ...
, 5.01%
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 ...
, 0.28% Asian, 0.14%
Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...
, 1.95% from other races, and 0.97% 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 6.13% of the population. There were 264 households, out of which 34.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 71.6% 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, 3.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 21.6% were non-families. 18.6% of all households were made up of individuals, and 7.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.72 and the average family size was 3.07. The city population is evenly spread: 25.9% is under the age of 18, 4.7% is between 18 and 24, 29.0% is from 25 to 44, 30.4% from 45 to 64, and 10.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 41 years. For every 100 females, there were 102.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.3 males. The median income for a household in the city was $72,833, and the median income for a family was $81,905. Males had a median income of $51,842 versus $30,333 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 $30,669. About 2.5% of families and 5.3% 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 7.9% of those under age 18 and 5.8% of those age 65 or over.


Government and infrastructure

Fort Bend County does not have a hospital district. OakBend Medical Center serves as the county's charity hospital which the county contracts with.


Mayor and Council members


US Post Office

The
United States Postal Service The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or simply the Postal Service, is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the executive branch of the federal governmen ...
operates the Simonton Post Office at 35608 Farm to Market Road 1093.


Public Library

Fulshear's Bob Lutts Fulshear/Simonton Branch Library, located in Fulshear, is a part of the Fort Bend County Libraries system. The branch, which opened in May 1998, was the third branch built with 1989 bond funds. The land currently occupied by the library was previously the Fort Bend County Precinct 4 headquarters. Bob Lutts, the precinct commissioner, offered the land to the library system. The Fulshear City Council asked the county to name the library after Lutts. The library is now within Precinct 3. File:Simonton TX City Hall and Fire.jpg, Simonton City Hall and Fire Station on FM 1093 File:Simonton TX Post Office.jpg, US Post Office on FM 1093 File:Fulshear TX Lutts Library.jpg, Bob Lutts Library on FM 359 in Fulshear


Education

Simonton is zoned to schools in the
Lamar Consolidated Independent School District Lamar Consolidated Independent School District, also Lamar Consolidated ISD, Lamar CISD or LCISD, is a public school district in the U.S. state of Texas within the Houston–Sugar Land–Metropolitan Area. Lamar CISD includes al ...
. ;Current zoned schools: * Huggins Elementary School (Fulshear) * Leaman Junior High School (Fulshear) * Fulshear High School (Fulshear) ; Previous zoned schools: * Foster High School (Richmond postal address) * Briscoe Junior High School (Richmond postal address) Private schools * Simonton Christian Academy (Simonton) The designated community college for LCISD is
Wharton County Junior College Wharton County Junior College (WCJC) is a public community college with its main campus in Wharton, Texas. The college also has campuses in Richmond, Sugar Land, and Bay City. WCJC offers a range of postsecondary educational prog ...
.Texas Education Code Sec. 130.211. Wharton County Junior College District Service Area.
/ref>
File:Lamar CISD Fulshear High School.jpg, Churchill Fulshear High School File:Lamar CISD Leaman Jr High School.jpg, Dean Leaman Junior High School File:Lamar CISD Huggins Elem School.jpg, Huggins Elementary School


Media

Simonton is one of the key towns featured in the 2009 documentary "The Heart of Texas Movie" File:Simonton TX Community Church.jpg, Simonton Community Church on FM 1489 south


Notable person

*
Dobie Gray Dobie Gray (born Lawrence Darrow Brown; July 26, 1940 – December 6, 2011) was an American singer and songwriter. Gray's music spanned multiple genres, including soul, country, pop, and musical theater. His hit songs included " The 'In' Cro ...
, singer


References


External links


City of Simonton official website
* *ABC Report (video)
China 1979: Deng Xiaoping visits Texas February 2nd 1979
*China Daily Global (video)
Texas town remembers Deng's 1979 visit
{{authority control Cities in Fort Bend County, Texas Cities in Texas Greater Houston