Clemville

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about Clemville, out there in Matagorda County. Now, it all starts the way so many Texas stories do — with land. This particular stretch of earth was originally part of a grant given to an early colonist by the name of Henry Parker.

For a good long while, it was exactly what it looked like: rural farming and ranching country, quiet and unhurried, the kind of place where the loudest thing going on was probably the cattle. But then came 1908, and a man named F. J.

Hardy, and everything changed. Hardy discovered oil out there and formed the Hardy Oil Company, and just like that, the calendar flipped on this little corner of Matagorda County. The community even took his name for a spell — folks called it Hardy.

Now, here's where the story gets interesting, because by 1911, another man had arrived. F. J.

Clemenger settled into the community, sized things up, and then purchased Hardy's holdings outright. He didn't stop there — he kept right on developing the oil fields in the area. And when you buy a man's business and build on top of his legacy, well, the community took note.

The town was renamed Clemville in Clemenger's honor, and a post office was established in 1911 to make it official. What followed was the kind of chapter that towns dream about. Clemville became a boomtown — schools, a church, residences, hotels, a general store, machinist shops.

The whole works. You could hear the hum of ambition in the air. But boom times have a way of cooling, and as the 1930s came on and the economy slowed, Clemville's population began to dwindle.

Slowly, then steadily. By the end of the twentieth century, the marker tells us, little physical evidence remained of the once booming oil town. One man found oil, another man bought it all out, and a whole town rose and fell on the strength of that ground.

Clemville. Matagorda County. It was all there — and now it's mostly memory.

What the marker says

Originally part of land granted to early colonist Henry Parker, this was a rural farming and ranching area until 1908 when F. J. Hardy discovered oil and formed the Hardy Oil Company. By 1911, F. J. Clemenger had settled in the community, then known as Hardy. After Clemenger purchased Hardy's holdings and further developed oil fields in the area, the community was renamed Clemville in his honor and a post office was established in 1911. Clemville became an oil boomtown, with schools, a church, residences, hotels, a general store and machinist shops. As the economy slowed in the 1930s, Clemville's population began to dwindle. By the end of the 20th century, little physical evidence remained of the once booming oil town. (2001)