by Barbara J. Wood
NOCKENUT
Nockenut, Wilson County, settled in 1857
NOCKENUT WILSON COUNTY TEXAS ... is on Farm Road 1681 twenty miles northeast of Floresville in northeastern Wilson County. It was settled in 1857 during the wave of German and Polish immigration into the area around Marion in Guadalupe County and Panna Maria in Karnes County. A post office opened there in 1858. The settlement was included in Guadalupe County until the boundary was changed in 1869.
In 1885, the community of seventy-five persons centered around a cotton gin and store operated by Joseph P. Watkins. H. S. Hastings, rancher, was postmaster; A. G. Hastings contracted to bring mail from Seguin; E. E. Hastings operated a general store.
By 1890, the town had a population of eighty and a church, a school, a general store, a cotton gin, a grocer, and a wagonmaker. Nockenut declined when railroads were built further south but remained a rural post office until 1906. By the mid-1930s only a few houses remained. In 1990 through 2000 the reported population was ten.
COURTESY / Texas State Historical Association
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History on a Pecan Shell ..... Nockenut dates from 1857 when Polish immigration was spreading out from Panna Maria and other Karnes County towns. There was also the occasional stray German family. The post office opened in 1858. The town had originally been in Guadalupe County, but there was a boundary change in 1869 and it became part of Wilson County where it has happily resided ever since.
The name Hastings was dominant in Nockenut. E. E. Hasting operated the general store, A. G. Hastings brought the mail from Seguin, and H. S. Hastings was postmaster.
The town was approaching a population of 100 when the railroad came through and drew people and businesses away.
It was what demographers call a dispersed rural community as early as the 1930s.
COURTESY / Texasescapes.com
In 1885, the community of seventy-five persons centered around a cotton gin and store operated by Joseph P. Watkins. H. S. Hastings, rancher, was postmaster; A. G. Hastings contracted to bring mail from Seguin; E. E. Hastings operated a general store.
By 1890, the town had a population of eighty and a church, a school, a general store, a cotton gin, a grocer, and a wagonmaker. Nockenut declined when railroads were built further south but remained a rural post office until 1906. By the mid-1930s only a few houses remained. In 1990 through 2000 the reported population was ten.
COURTESY / Texas State Historical Association
**********
History on a Pecan Shell ..... Nockenut dates from 1857 when Polish immigration was spreading out from Panna Maria and other Karnes County towns. There was also the occasional stray German family. The post office opened in 1858. The town had originally been in Guadalupe County, but there was a boundary change in 1869 and it became part of Wilson County where it has happily resided ever since.
The name Hastings was dominant in Nockenut. E. E. Hasting operated the general store, A. G. Hastings brought the mail from Seguin, and H. S. Hastings was postmaster.
The town was approaching a population of 100 when the railroad came through and drew people and businesses away.
It was what demographers call a dispersed rural community as early as the 1930s.
COURTESY / Texasescapes.com