TAFT, TEXAS

History in a Pecan Shell

The town became a flag stop on the railroad shortly after the tracks were laid in the mid 1880s. The land had originally been part of the vast holdings of the Coleman-Fulton Pasture Company.

A windmill owned by the company stood nearby and supplied water for the railroad and the people who had gathered around the company stock pens. The town became known as Mesquital. The name was changed in 1900 when plans were made to turn Mesquital into a proper town.

Joseph F. Green, manager of the C-F Pasure Company named the new town Taft in 1904 - the year the post office opened. The naming was not after President Howard Taft, but his half-brother Chas. P. Taft.

In 1909, the company had over 2,500 acres planted in cotton and when failed land booms provided a surplus of buildings in Portland, Aransas Pass, and Rockport, several were moved overland to create the new town. The Coleman-Fulton Pasture Company also subdivided partions of their holdings to sell to farmers.

A dependable sourse of fresh water was discovered in 1909 which allowed the company to expand operations to include a packing-house, electric generating plant and an ice factory. Farmers who bought land were guaranteed a market for their livestock and produce.

President Taft himself came to the town to give a speech at the newly-constructed school in 1909. Nine years later the Board of Directors divested the entire operation and sold the entire ranch and it's infrastructure to the private sector. In the spring of 1921 ads for the upcoming auction were placed in major newspapers and 5,000 people attended the sale. The independent city of Taft was born.

Taft Churches & Historical Markers

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