DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and here's how I'm gonna tell it to you. The story of West Portland starts — like so many Texas stories — with a railroad and a whole lot of ambition. The San Antonio and Aransas Pass Railroad came through this part of San Patricio County back in the late 1880s, and that iron track laid the groundwork for everything that followed.
But the real action didn't kick off until 1908, when the Coleman-Fulton Pasture Company decided the time had come to encourage some settlement out here. Their play was bold: hand over fourteen thousand acres of the Picatche pasture — that's a lot of acreage, friend — to the George H. Paul Company of Iowa to sell.
Now, Paul wasn't some greenhorn speculator. He already had an established record of bringing settlers to Texas from other parts of the United States and Canada. The man knew how to move people.
And move them he did. The George H. Paul Company mounted what the marker calls a gigantic advertising campaign across the Midwest, and they started running trainloads of prospective land buyers into the area — most of them from Kansas — almost every single week.
Some of those folks bought land, some leased it out to tenant farmers, and about twenty families actually planted roots and moved into the area. Then the work began in earnest. Within a year, Mexican migrant workers had cleared the land of mesquite brush, and farmers got down to the business of working that rich black soil underneath.
By 1914, a school building was up and serving the West Portland School District. But here's the thing about that schoolhouse — it earned its keep seven days a week. Academic classes, yes, but also community meetings, programs, parties, socials, receptions, suppers, Sunday School classes, and worship services.
That one building was carrying a community on its shoulders. As the community grew, larger buildings were erected as needed, and one of the old school buildings got moved clean across the street to serve as a teacherage. Then 1922 rolled around, and local farmers did what Texans do when they need something done — they banded together.
They formed the West Portland Gin Cooperative, and that cooperative became the heart of the business district. For decades it was the beating pulse of this little place. The school eventually consolidated with the Taft Independent School District in 1939.
The farmers sold the gin cooperative in 1970. And here's the part of the story that lands quiet but lands hard: at the end of the twentieth century, that cooperative was still in operation, and most of the area land was owned by descendants of those original settlers. Twenty families showed up on a train from Kansas, cleared the mesquite, worked the black soil, and a hundred years later — their people were still there.
Some roots, once they take hold in Texas ground, just don't let go.
What the marker says
The San Antonio and Aransas Pass Railroad was built through this area in the late 1880s. In 1908 the Coleman-Fulton Pasture Company decided to encourage settlement in the area by giving 14,000 acres in its Picatche pasture to the George H. Paul Company of Iowa to sell. Paul already had established a record of bringing settlers to Texas from other parts of the United States and Canada. The company mounted a gigantic advertising campaign in the midwest, bringing in trainloads of prospective land buyers, most from Kansas, almost weekly. Some bought and leased land to tenant farmers; about twenty families moved into the area. Within a year, Mexican migrant workers had cleared the land of mesquite brush and farmers began to work the rich black soil. By 1914, a school building served the West Portland School District and the community. In addition to housing academic classes, the schoolhouse served as a community center for meetings, programs, parties, socials, receptions and suppers. Sunday School classes and worship services were held there, as well. Larger buildings were erected as needed, and one old school building was moved across the street to serve as a teacherage. In 1922, local farmers banded together to form the West Portland Gin Cooperative, which became the heart of the business district. The school was consolidated with the Taft Independent School District in 1939. Farmers sold the gin cooperative in 1970. At the end of the 20th century, the cooperative was still in operation and most of the area land was owned by descendants of the original settlers. (2000)