Meansville and Kaleta

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about Meansville and Kaleta, out in San Patricio County. Now, some communities rise slow and steady, and some flame out fast. Meansville managed to do both — and the story of how it did is one you won't soon forget.

It starts with Colonel William Marshall Means, a veteran of the Battle of San Jacinto, which puts him in some pretty distinguished Texas company. He came to San Patricio County with his family in the 1850s and settled southeast of what's now Odem. A man of some standing, Means served as county sheriff from 1862 to 1867.

The community that grew up around his presence got itself a proper anchor in 1874, when the Methodist congregation erected a two-story building — two stories, mind you — that pulled double and triple duty as a schoolhouse, an ecumenical church, and a community center. That's the kind of place that holds a town together. And by January of 1876, Meansville was thrivng.

Headed, the marker says, for a promising future. Now, you heard that word — was. Past tense.

Hold onto that. Because right around that same time, three of Colonel Means' sons went on a shooting spree over in Papalote, in Bee County. A posse formed — including San Patricio County Sheriff Ed Garner — and they tracked those three sons back to their father's ranch.

And that is where Colonel Means was killed. Then, in August, Sheriff Ed Garner was shot. While he was attending church services.

A man named Alley Means was convicted of murder. He was later pardoned by Governor John Ireland. And through all of it, the townspeople lived in fear — until the Texas Rangers stepped in and ordered the Means families to leave the area.

By the early 1880s, the family had sold off their San Patricio County holdings. The school building itself was sold in 1881. Just like that, a thriving community, hollowed out.

Now, about five miles to the southeast, something else was stirrin'. In the late 1880s, several families settled in a stretch of country that came to be known as Kaleta. Before long, they built themselves a one-room school.

The marker notes that the Kaleta school may have been established to fill the void left by the closing of that Meansville school — a quiet kind of continuity, one community's end feeding another's beginning. In 1894, Frank S. Rachal served as Kaleta's first postmaster.

The school closed in 1910. The post office was discontinued in 1914. But even after that, the stagecoach line kept on delivering local mail — right to the home of former postmaster J.

D. Willis and his family. That stage line was the last thread tying the place to the wider world.

By the time the devastating storm of 1919 rolled through, even that thread was gone. The stage line had closed. And Kaleta had disappeared from the map.

Two communities, southeast of Odem. One undone by violence, one undone by time. Both gone now — except for this marker, and the story it carries down the road.

What the marker says

Col. William Marshall Means, a veteran of the Battle of San Jacinto, came to San Patricio County with his family in the 1850s and settled southeast of present Odem. Means was county sheriff from 1862 to 1867. The center of the community was a two-story building erected by the Methodist congregation in 1874. It also served as a schoolhouse, ecumenical church and community center. By January 1876, the community was thriving and headed for a promising future when three of Col. Means' sons went on a shooting spree in Papalote in Bee County. A posse which included San Patricio County Sheriff Ed Garner tracked them to their father's ranch, where Col. Means was killed. In August, Ed Garner was shot as he attended church services. Alley Means was convicted of murder, but later pardoned by Gov. John Ireland. The townspeople lived in fear until the Texas Rangers ordered the Means families to leave the area. By the early 1880s they had sold their San Patricio County holdings. The school building was sold in 1881. Kaleta (5 miles SE) Several families settled in the area that became known as Kaleta in the late 1880s and shortly thereafter built a one-room school. The Kaleta school may have been established to fill a void left by the closing of the Meansville school. Frank S. Rachal served as first postmaster in 1894. The school closed in 1910 and the post office was discontinued in 1914, but the stagecoach line continued to deliver local mail to the home of former postmaster J. D. Willis and his family. By the time of the devastating 1919 storm, the stage line had closed and Kaleta had disappeared from the map. (2000)