DUANE
Duane's take
The official marker tells it this way, and I'm just the voice carryin' it down the road. Picture the Texas coast in 1840. A Comanche raid has just swept through the nearby settlement of Linville, and out of that aftermath, a new town rises.
They called it Lavaca — that's the cow, in Spanish — and they planted it right there on the Matagorda Bay. Somebody had to take Linville's place, and Lavaca was ready for the job. It didn't waste any time.
Lavaca became the busiest port in the Matagorda Bay area, a major hub for the overland export of cattle and other goods. And in 1846, Calhoun County tapped it as the first county seat. That honor held until 1852, when Indianola stepped in and took the role.
But here's where it gets interesting. The Civil War comes along, and Federal gunboats open fire on Lavaca. The town withstands it.
Sits right there and takes the shelling and doesn't go down. The county seat drifts back to Lavaca for a spell during the war, then returns to Indianola once things settle. Now Indianola — Indianola had its own fate waitin'.
In 1886, a hurricane ravaged it. Just leveled the place. And just like that, Lavaca was county seat again.
Meanwhile, the town itself was already changin'. Railroad expansion across Texas was reshaping everything, and Lavaca moved away from cattle and turned its eyes toward the sea — toward seafood. From the late 1880s, people started calling it Port Lavaca, and the name fit.
The village boomed. Tourism picked up, the population grew, several factories were opened. In 1909 the town became a general law city.
Then 1913 — the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway connected to Port Lavaca. A seawall was completed in 1920. Shrimp and frozen seafood became major items for export.
And then the ground itself had something to offer: natural gas discovered in 1934, oil in 1935. From the late 1940s, major manufacturing started contributing to the city's growth. Port Lavaca became a home rule chartered city in 1956.
A deep water port was located here in 1965. In 1990, Port Lavaca celebrated one hundred and fifty years of rich history — a town born from the wreckage of a raid, tested by gunboats and hurricanes, and still standin' on that bay. That's not luck.
That's Lavaca. This marker was erected by the Calhoun County Historical Commission, George Fred Rhodes, Chairman.
What the marker says
Founded in the aftermath of a Comanche raid on the nearby settlement of Linville, the town of Lavaca ("the cow") was established in 1840. The busiest port in the Matagorda Bay area and a major center for over-land export of cattle and other goods, Lavaca was an able successor to Linville. Lavaca was the first Calhoun County seat from 1846 to 1852, when Indianola assumed the role. The county seat was returned to Lavaca briefly during the Civil War, when the town withstood fire from Federal gunboats, then returned to Indianola. In 1886 Indianola was ravaged by a hurricane and Lavaca was again county seat. With railroad expansion in Texas, Lavaca moved away from cattle and turned to seafood. Called Port Lavaca from the late 1880s, the village boomed. Tourism and the population increased; several factories were opened; the town became a general law city in 1909. The Gulf Intracoastal Waterway was connected to Port Lavaca in 1913 and a seawall was completed in 1920. Shrimp and frozen seafood became major items for export. Natural gas and oil were discovered in 1934 and 1935. From the late 1940s major manufacturing began to contribute to Port Lavaca' s growth. Port Lavaca became a home rule chartered city in 1956, and a deep water port was located here in 1965. Port Lavaca celebrated 150 years of rich history in 1990. (1998) Incise on base: Erected by Calhoun County Historical Commission; George Fred Rhodes, Chairman