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History
in a Pecan Shell
Founded in 1906 by a German Mennonite minister named Peter Unzicker,
the town was named for the daughter of J. M. Chittum of the Chittum-Miller
ranch, original landowners. Unzicker headed up a colony of Mennonites
who were transmigrating from Cullom, Illinois.
A brief timeline of significant incidents in Tuleta's history:
1881: The San Antonio and Aransas Pass Railway built across the Chittum-Miller
ranch ranch.
1906: depot opens
1907: post office opens and the Mennonite church is built.
1910: Amanda Stoltzfus organized the Tuleta Agriculture High School,
the first of its kind in Texas.
1929: Oil and gas are discovered nearby
Tuleta once had three churches - Mennonite, Presbyterian, and Baptist
- of which only the Baptist remained in 1990.
The town celebrates Tuleta Day on the second Saturday in August
See Tuleta Historical Marker ›
Tuleta Landmarks - Photo Gallery
›
Tuleta Old Photos › |
Tuleta historical
marker
on US 181
Photo courtesy Ken
Rudine, August 2007 |
Tuleta
The Rev. Peter
Unzicker led a group of Illinois settlers here in 1906. Buying 53.4
acres of land of the original Uranga Grant and later Chittim-Miller
Ranch, he founded Tuleta, named for the daughter of J. M. Chittim.
A rail depot and post office were opened. In 1909 Pastor Unzicker
organized one of Texas' first Mennonite churches. Townspeople established
the innovative Tuleta Agricultural High School in 1910, with Miss
Amanda Stoltzfus as principal. Once marketing center for this fertile
farming area, Tuleta also had a union church and several business
houses.
(1978) |
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The
brick grade school was burned beyond repair in 2002.
TE Photos June 2002 |
Note: Schoolhouse
is private property today, and being restored. No tresspassing. -
March 2017
More Texas
Schoolhouses |
Tuleta, Texas
Vintage Photos
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One of the new
homes of Tuleta, about 1910
Photo courtesy Will
Beauchamp |
"Writing
on the back of the postcard is a message from one of the men pictured
on the bridge to his sister. He states this is the new bridge they
just built. Postcard dated May 1909."
- Will
Beauchamp, Taft, Texas (formerly of Tuleta)
More Texas Bridges
›
More Texas Vintage
Photos › |
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Tuleta, Texas
Forum
Subject: The
Namesake of Tuleta
The town Tuleta was named for a cousin of mine. My great-grandmother,
Arminta Chittim Grace was a sister of J.M. Chittim. The town was named
after his daughter Tuleta. In approximately, 1888 or 1889, my great
grand parents went to Texas to visit her brother James Madison Chittim.
On that visit they met their niece, Tuleta Chittim and liked the name
so well that when they returned to Missouri and my grandmother became
more than a twinkle in his eye, they named her Tuleta and I in turn
was named for her.
I have always wondered and can find no trace of where the name came
from or how it came to be in that part of Texas. I keeps popping up
in the most unexpected places. A street in Honolulu, a full-blooded
Cherokee laborer named William Tuleta Claw, and so on. Can you give
me any answers? I am very honored to have a town with the same name
and a zip code. - Tuleta Owens Gilchrist, January 28, 2005 |
Subject:
Young Family Photo Postcards and Letters
"Here are some of the postcards dated 1909-1915 from the Young
Family. I would like to find any decendents of the family and send
them to them. I have over 25 photo postcards and a few letters. The
names on them are Earle and Loretta, Cy, Frank, Rose Elizabeth. I
believe they all lived in the Normanna
area." - paint320@sbcglobal.net
April 21, 2004 |
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| 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. |
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