Hooge Hill

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'm going to give it to you straight. Out on Hooge Hill in Atascosa County, a story took root in 1917, and it started, like the best stories do, with two people who knew what hard ground could give you if you were willing to ask nicely. Anna Ripps and Petrus Alphons Hooge established the Prospect Hill Grocery and the Hooge Homestead that year, bringing their children along and bringing something else, too: a farming heritage that ran deep in both of them.

They didn't come out here by accident. They came to build something. And build they did.

The place became known simply as Hooge Hill, which tells you everything about how the community felt about it. No long explanations needed. Just two words, and everybody knew.

The Hooges were early produce packers, shipping Atascosa County produce out to local markets and beyond, which in 1917 was no small undertaking. Mrs. Hooge ran her store with a reputation that spread just as far as those shipments did: friendly, fair, and family-oriented.

Working-class residents of Poteet and all of Atascosa County came to rely on that place, came to rely on her. Then 1955 arrived, and Petrus Hooge preceded his wife in death. Anna kept the store going.

She kept Hooge Hill going. Until 1964, when she passed, and the business closed with her. But here's the thing about a place that becomes a center for a community, a place where people feel seen and treated right: it doesn't disappear just because the doors shut.

The Hooge Store legacy remains. That's not sentiment talking. That's a marker on the hill saying so.

What the marker says

Prospect Hill Grocery and Hooge Homestead were established in 1917 by Anna Ripps and Petrus "Alphons" Hooge. The couple and their children came to this area to establish a home and cultivate opportunities from their mutual farming heritage. Known simply as "Hooge Hill," their produce and mercantile business became a center for working-class residents of Poteet and Atasocsa County. The Hooges were early produce packers who shipped Atascosa County produce to local markets and beyond. Mrs. Hooge's store provided a friendly, fair and family-oriented environment. Mrs. Hooge was preceded in death by her husband in 1955. Following her death in 1964, the business closed but the Hooge Store legacy remains. (2016)