Town of Winnie

Winnie's best-kept crop was the fig. In the early 1900s the Winnie and Stowell area grew figs well enough to support several processing plants, though the 1915 storm, freezes and rice prices kept getting in the way, and the industry died out around 1920. Poor drainage, bad roads and a shaky railroad left the town isolated through the 1920s, when its population stood near 200. The first hint of change came in 1926, when a German seismograph crew arrived to look for oil under the rice fields.

What the plaque says

Town of Winnie Site is on 1835 James Hoggatt grant from Mexico. As late as 1890s, small tracts were homesteaded here. Named for Fox Winnie (1843-1927), a contractor and investor of Newton, Kans., who with L. P. Featherstone in 1895 built Gulf & Interstate Railway through the area. An 1896 storm destroyed G. & I. R. rail bed. The train, caught in Galveston, waited three years to make return run through Winnie to Beaumont. Winnie Loan & Improvement Company sold acreage and town lots from its offices in Galveston, 1896-1911. Late 1800s economy, based on raising of rice, cattle, fruit, and cotton, suffered from 1895 snow, hurricanes in 1896, 1900, and later, and a severe freeze in 1916. Pioneer religious worship, held in homes, was led by such settlers as the Rev. T. W. White, a Presbyterian. Churches were built by Baptist, Church of christ, First Assembly of God, Latter Day Saints, Methodist, and Roman Catholic congregations. The one-room early school evolved into a system with several buildings. Site of Chambers County sub-courthouse, Winnie benefits from payrolls of petroleum and chemical industries, and rice, beef, and catfish farming. Great annual celebration is the Texas Rice Festival. (1972)

Where it stands

More markers nearby

• Winnie-Stowell — 0.5 mi
• Anahuac Oil and Gas Field — 12 mi
• Harmon Saddle Shop — 13 mi
• Near Site of the Signing of Turtle Bayou Resolutions — 16 mi