Matagorda county was the early home of the Karankawa Indians. From 1582 to 1535 several expeditions from Spain traveled through Matagorda County and the most were slaughtered by these Indians. LaSalle landed there in 1685 and founded Ft. St. Louis after he became lost on his second voyage from France searching for the mouth of the Mississippi River. LaSalle met his fate at the hands of one of his own men. The Indians destroyed Ft. St. Louis and the French were captured. Spain sent De Leon to drive the French out but ended up rescuing the prisoners and returned them to their countrymen. 53 families received land grants in Matagorda County from 1824 to 1827 under Austin's first contract known as "The Old Three Hundred" with Spanish permission. They arrived on the schooner "Only Son". They too faced the Indians and other hardships.

 The town, Matagorda, began in 1826 when Elias R. Wightman, League, Ludlow and Watson asked Austin to grant them permission to build it. A League of land was set aside and League, Austin, Duke and Selkirk became owners. Others later arrived on another schooner. The Municipality of Matagorda County was organized under the Mexican Government on March 6, 1834 and became Matagorda County on March 17, 1836, which was completely organized in July 1837. Matagorda was the County Seat from 1837-1894.

The first schoolhouse was a log cabin with a dirt floor built in 1829 in Matagorda. Josiah Wilbarger assisted by Mrs. Elias Wightman taught at the small school. Mrs. Wightman also organized the first Sunday school class in 1829. The first two churches organized were the Episcopal and Methodist during 1839

 The Canal Navigation Company was organized in 1838 for the purpose of clearing the channel of Caney Creek and to connect the creek by canals with the head of Matagorda Bay, Cedar Lake and the Colorado River. By 1960 steamships were operating on the Caney Creek. 

Cotton, sugar cane and corn were one of the first crops raised. One great difficulty faced by early settlers from 1836-1871 was transportation of supplies and agricultural products due to the river raft (hundreds of years of driftwood building up create a major log jam) on the Colorado River. By 1850 cotton, corn and sugar cane had become the main crops. In 1858 cotton covered 6,853 acres, sugar 1,160 acres and corn 4,291 acres. Following the civil war cotton production decreased due to the pests. This enabled the cattlemen to gain more control. Planters attempted to develop agricultural resources again in 1899 by growing rice instead of cotton. The high price of cotton during W.W.I. caused many planters to resume planting cotton again. From 1900-1950, rice, cotton and cattle were raised in large quantities. Around 1926 the canal companies were consolidated under one company. From that time forward the company operated its canals for the furnishing of water to rice farmers on a cash water rent basis. Rice, beef and grains became more prevalent in the 1950's.

 Before the 1850's, the cattle industry was progressing slowly. When steamships began to carry cattle to New Orleans, prices advanced and the cattle industry developed rapidly. The Civil War brought an abrupt stop to the business. After the war, Matagorda County was overflowing with cattle. Instead of trying to continue the plantations with hired labor, most of the planters who returned after the war entered the cattle business. By 1870 the largest cattle ranch belonged to A.H. (Shanghai) Pierce. With 35,000 heads of cattle, he owned ½ of the cattle in the country. 

The first fish & oyster house was established in the late 1800's by Mr. Lorino in Matagorda. Soon afterwards, Mr. Horn established an oyster-canning factory there. At first it was successful but eventually the tremendous cost forced the factory to close a few years later. Then the railroad came to Matagorda & Palacios and these towns became commercial fish & oyster shipping points. This resulted in the second fish & oyster house in Matagorda. Matagorda was rated the largest fish and oyster shipping point in the state. 

 Matagorda, Caney, Demings's Bridge, Elliotts's Caney Culver, Hardeman and Pledger were the only acknowledged settlements in 1890. Because of the storms Matagorda endured, an election was held on September 18, 1894 to move the County Seat to a new townsite to be built on a land known as Bay Prairie. Thus this town (Bay City) grew up around a plan that centered around the courthouse and that plan exists today. Six months after the election Bay City had three hotels, a boarding house, livery stable, grocery and hardware store, two dry good and clothing store, ice cream parlor, barber and saddle shop, two saloons, post office, newspaper office, blacksmith shop and 2 residences and many cottages. With the development of the rice industry, coming of the railroad & discovery of oil and sulphur all by 1901, many towns & villages began to appear. Collegeport, Markham, Blessing, and Palacios were in existence by 1910.

The Rugeley house was purchased in 1914 by Dr. Jones & the upstairs was converted to the 1 st hospital in the County. Dr. Loos was one of the physicians who practiced there. Later Dr. Loos turned the old Sutherland home into another hospital. Many physicians in the area had no place to perform operations and requested the use of the Los Hospital. The responsibility for his and the other physicians patients & a $2,000 a year loss led Loss to approach the State Representative about introducing a bill which would allow a bond issue for a community hospital in towns with certain populations. Thus, Matagorda General Hospital was built under the new bill on a land donated by V.L. Letulle.

Camp Hulen located on Tres Palacios Bay was the site for the annual training of the 36 th Division of the Texas National Guard with the first session taking place the summer of 1926. The camp was leased by the government in 1940 for coast artillery anti-aircraft training. Camp Hulen became a prisoner of war center in January 1944. After the war, the camp was cleared of all but brick buildings. The Property was transferred to Palacios in 1955 and sold in 1965 to real estate developers. It remains today as a possible future industrial Park. 

In the 1950's, The Texas Mid Coast Water Development Association was formed to keep the public informed on water developments. The county voted favorably in a hospital bond elections that would assure a hospital to be built in Palacios. The county's citizens were united in their support in securing construction on a barge channel from the Intracoastal Canal to milepost 17 on the Colorado River. It became a reality when for the first time Eisenhower's veto had been overridden; Congress passed the Public Works Appropriation bill for construction funds in the amount of $390.000.

Industry played a major role in economic & population increase from the early 1960's through the 1980's Celanses Chemical Company was constructed in 1961 with an official dedication held in November 1962. Oil industries paid more than 70 percent of all taxes in the county between 1964 and 1968. Ground was broke in September 1975 for the South Texas Nuclear Project with a completion date set for 1982. Operations on one of the two nuclear powered stations began in 1988. E.I. DuPont de Nemours Co.,Inc., a high density polyethylene plant started up toward and end of 1983.

In agriculture, rice and turf grass were leading with gross receipts of approximately $30 million during the mid 1980's. Grain sorghum was the leading crop on planted acreage with 90,000 acres planted. Corn was planted on 20, 000 acres, soybean on 18,000 and corn on 5,000. Beef cattle was still important with approximately 85,000 cattle in the county. Agriculture continued to be a sound industry during the 1990's. Around $102,500,000 was made in 1994 from rice, beef cattle, turf grass and other crops.

Because of it's rich history, Matagorda County can now proudly boast of 91 historical markers throughout the county and also of 56 Landmark Commission plaques for historical structures in Bay City.

For an extensive account of events and dates about Matagorda county History, visit the Matagorda County Museum Archives Department. The archives dept. consist of families, county towns and county documents, photographs, newspaper, maps, blueprints, tax records, probates, deeds, marriage licenses, etc. Research hours are Tuesday through Friday from 9:00 a.m. - 11:30 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. - 4:30 p.m. or other hours by appointment. The phone number is 979-245-4443 and the email is This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it