Historical Marker
Kamey Community
Port Lavaca, Calhoun County · Texas
Erected 2017
Kamey was a station on the Galveston, Harrisburg and San Antonio Railway, and in 1914 it reported a single business, McKamey Brothers, general merchants, stock raisers and wholesale hay dealers, with a telephone connection and some 250 people. The post office of 1910 seems to have existed chiefly for McKamey's plantation workers, and it closed in 1915. By 1933 the place had twenty-five residents and three businesses; in 1939 its school district enrolled twenty-seven students; and by 1955 the district had been folded into the county's. By 1973 only a few scattered houses stood here.
What the plaque says
Kamey Community John William McKamey (1878-1955) was born in Salem, Arkansas, to John Samuel Monroe and Sarah Rebecca McKamey. John's family valued education and moved four times in order for John to graduate from Baylor University with two diplomas in Military Science and Elocution on June 6, 1899. After graduation, john returned to Gregory, Texas, to assist his father in managing the family's 2,000-acre cotton farm. In 1901, John married Maude Todd whom he met at Baylor. Looking to expand, John and his brother, Tunnell, purchased lots in the Port Lavaca townsite along with the Bay Trading Co. between 1905 and 1907. John also purchased property and established Lynnworth Cemetery (now Port Lavaca Cemetery). During this time, several members of the McKamey family along with J.B. McCampbell purchased more than 8,000 acres that became known as the Kamey Community. In 1912, Maude and John moved from Port Lavaca to the Kamey Community and raised five children. John and the McKamey family raised cattle and farmed cotton and grain sorghum. In addition to the land, a depot along the Galveston, Harrisburg and San Antonio railway provided an accessible transport for McKamey goods to market. In 1910, a post office was established for the family and farm employees but was discontinued in 1915. A one-teacher school was available from 1910 to 1948 as well as a general store for the community, later named the "Kamey Army Store" which operated from 1914 to 2002. Generations of the McKamey family continue to work the land and contribute to the agricultural development of the area. (2017)
Where it stands
28.63470, -96.74111 · Directions
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