Ingleside

Duane's take

The way I tell it, I'm drawing straight from the official marker for Ingleside, out in San Patricio County, so let's walk this one through together. Now every community has a beginning, and Ingleside's starts back in the 1850s, when a man named George C. Hatch purchased land on both sides of the bayou.

That's how it goes, one man with some land and a sense of possibility. Hatch didn't stop there either. He eventually acquired 3,800 acres, and then he did what a man with 3,800 acres tends to do.

He sold parcels to other settlers, folks who built homes along the bayou and out on Ingleside Cove. Now about that name, Ingleside Cove. John Vineyard is the man credited with it, and he named it for his Scottish ancestral home.

Carry that a moment. A man looks out over a Texas cove and reaches all the way back across an ocean to name what he's found. In 1854, George and Marcellus Turner settled into the area, and by 1857 Marcellus had obtained a grant for the area's very first post office.

The Turners weren't the kind to sit still. They established the Star Cattle Company and organized several cattle drives up to northern markets. Youngs Coleman operated a general store, keeping the community supplied and connected.

Back to George Hatch for a moment, because the man had range. He introduced grape culture to the area, and his son, John G. Hatch, took that idea and ran with it, developing a prosperous vineyard in the 1880s.

The Massi and Mircovich families were making their own mark, prominent figures in the fishing industry that took root right here. Then came the railroad, and here is where the story gets a little thorny. The railway bypassed Ingleside in the late 1880s.

That is the kind of thing that can quietly change a community's direction. So residents did what practical Texans do. They set up a new town site on the railroad in 1893.

And right around the same time, in the early 1890s, a large hotel went up on the cove. The years kept rolling. An oil refinery came in, then industrial development, then a United States Navy home port.

The economic base of the community grew with each of those additions. And the population of Ingleside grew steadily after the 1970s. From one man's land purchase on a bayou, through cattle drives and vineyards and a railroad that tried to leave them behind, Ingleside just kept finding its next chapter.

What the marker says

The Ingleside community began in the 1850s when George C. Hatch purchased land on both sides of the bayou. He later acquired 3,800 acres of land and sold land to other settlers who built homes on the bayou and Ingleside Cove. John Vineyard is credited with naming Ingleside Cove for his Scottish ancestral home. In 1854 George and Marcellus Turner settle in the area, and in 1857 Marcellus obtained a grant for the area's first post office. The Turners established the star cattle company and organized several cattle drives to northern markets. A general store was operated by Youngs Coleman. George Hatch introduced grape culture to the area, and his son John G. Hatch developed a prosperous vineyard in the 1880s. The Massi and Mircovich families were prominent in the fishing industry established here. The railway bypassed Ingleside in the late 1880s. Residents set up a new town site on the railroad in 1893, and in the early 1890s a large hotel was built on the cove. In later years, the economic base of the community was assisted by the establishment of an oil refinery, industrial development and a U.S. navy home port. The population of Ingleside grew steadily after the 1970s. (1998)