|
A Nine-pin "bowling"
league in Ottine c. 1890s.
Click on photo for large image
Photo Courtesy of Gonzales County Records Center |
|
History
in a Pecan Shell
The town's name was cobbled together when Adolf Otto
and his wife Christine decided that the previous name of Otto's
Mill could stand improvement. It was also known for a brief time
as Otto's Station when the San Antonio and Aransas Pass Railway
made it a stop on their route.
The Ottos had naming rights since it was Adolph who had built a
water gin in 1879. The mill ran on water provided by the sulfur
springs in the swamp next to the town. Ottine prospered enough to
warrant a general store and post office by 1892. The business was
opened by the sons of Christine and Adoph.
By 1897 Ottine had two general stores as well as most essential
businesses and a gristmill (courtesy of the San Marcos River).
As difficult as it is to imagine today, local farmers produced 7,000
bales of cotton in the single year of 1899. In 1915 the population
was estimated at 200 but ten years later it had declined to a mere
100.
198 acres of the Ottine Swamp was bought by the state in 1933 and
it was renamed as Palmetto
State Park. Four years later the Warm Springs Foundation for
Crippled Children (Texas Rehabilitation Center of Gonzales
) set up a facility at the site. As a result, Ottine's population
doubled to an estimated 200 by the end of WWII.
The population returned to the 100-person range in the mid 1960s
and it decreased to 90 in 1990, rebounding to the present estimate
of 106.
See
Ottine Post Office ›
Ottine, Texas Forum ›
|
Ottine,
Texas Post Office
|
The Post Office
as Postcard.
TE Archives |
The post office
which was considered by many (or at least the photographer who made
a post card of it) to be one of the more picturesque post
offices in Texas has been replaced by a modern modular post office.
Assistant postmaster Shirley C. related the story (in 2000) of how
the building had once been photographed without the permission of
the postmaster. After returning from a vacation, the postmaster fired
off a letter to the printing company suggesting possible litigation.
A short time later several boxes of postcards were delivered to the
post office and the matter was never mentioned again. |
The post office
as it appeared in 1999.
TE Photo |
The post office
front door - in the shade of Chinaberry trees
TE Photo |
The post office
interior in 1999.
TE Photo |
 |
Ottine, Texas
Forum
Subject:
Ottine and Palmetto State Park
I just happened across your website
and I have been reading info from places I have been, I have enjoyed
"Waxing Nostalgic".
I wanted to let you know that Ottine had two rehabilitation facilities
up until the 1980's. The Warm Springs Foundation Hospital and The
Texas Elks Hospital for crippled (I hate that word) children. Warm
Springs was funded mainly by the March of Dimes while the Elks Club
of Texas funded the other. Most of the kids at the Elks Hospital
were from lower socioeconomic backgrounds of which I was one. After
contracting polio in 1952 I was lucky enough to wind up at the Elks
Hospital for treatment.
As I was reading "History in a Pecan Shell" it aroused many memories
of my life there. One of my favorite memories is the canopy of trees
on Park Road 11, the mustang grapes growing wild along the roadside
were the best things I have ever eaten. I have enjoyed traveling
all over Texas but I always feel I am home when I go back and drive
around Ottine and Palmetto
State Park. - Tom Billings, December 19, 2011
|
 |
| Texas
Escapes, in its purpose to preserve historic, endangered and vanishing
Texas, asks that anyone wishing to share their local history, stories,
landmarks and recent or vintage photos, please contact
us. |
|
|
HOME
