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History in
a Pecan Shell
1850: Wesson
was originally named Henderson Crossing after early settler
Hensley G. Henderson.
1858: The crossing's name was changed to Esser's Crossing
after the land was bought by Charles Esser. The village itself was
known as Guadalupe Valley.
Going Postal
The mail had been delivered from nearby post offices at Spring
Branch and Smithson Valley. When Charles Esser applied
for one, his numerous requests were rejected one after the other.
History has lost Mr. Esser's list of favored names, but one story
remains. With his frustration reaching the boiling point, Esser applied
for the name of Hell, Texas. This must've amused the boys in Washington,
but they wrote an official rejection notice saying that the name had
already been taken (a lie).
Esser started submitting any name he could think of and he did it
systematically. When he got to firearms, Winchester
was taken and Smithville
already existed - but not Wesson. The postal authorities granted the
name Wesson - not for an individual - but just to get Charley Esser
off their back.
A man named Beierle ran the post office from his home starting
in 1893, but in 1907 a route was established and the community received
their mail from New
Braunfels.
The town lost population slowly. During WWII,
the residents left for jobs in the cities and after the war the remaining
residents left.
Today a cemetery named after the postmaster (Beierle) is about all
that remains of Wesson.
Two other cemeteries are in the immediate vicinity - one named Rust
and the other unnamed. Consult the Texas Department of Transportation's
map of Comal County. |
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1907 postal
map showing Wesson in NW Comal
County
From Texas state map #2090
Courtesy
Texas General Land Office |
| 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
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