Indianola, Texas
Posted by: 
Raven
N 28° 31.650 W 096° 30.526
14R E 743783 N 3158170
Indianola is a coastal ghost town located at the turnaround/terminus of Texas Hwy 316 at the shores of the Gulf of Mexico. It was established in 1846 and ultimately destroyed by two successive hurricanes: one in 1875 and the other in 1886.
Waymark Code: WMPTYP
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 10/20/2015
Views: 2
"Incorporated as a town in 1853, Indianola's roots were first set at Indian Point, Texas, three miles to the north of Powderhorn Bayou. At Indian Point, an American settlement had sprung up in 1846 a year after Texas had become a state. Two years earlier in 1844, Prince Karl Solms Braunfels had begun to land German immigrants nearby at the settlement of Karlshaven also on the shores of Matagorda Bay. By 1848, Indian Point was the primary entry port for European immigrants and Americans landing here to migrate westward.
From Indian Point a major road lead westward to San Antonio and onward to Chihuahua, Mexico. This was known as the Cart Road since oxcarts were heavily used by Mexican and American freight haulers to transport goods into the interior of Texas and Mexico.
In 1853 Indianola was located on Matagorda Bay and Powderhorn Bayou where it had been relocated to take advantage of deeper waters to accomodate steamships of Morgan Lines that had chosen this area due to ease of access from the Gulf. Ships could enter the bay through Pass Cavallo and sail to Indianola in a matter of hours. The route to Indianola had very accomodating water depth without the difficulties of passing through hazards of oyster reefs and shallow bars that made the Lavaca port further up the bay a navigational challenge, and a longer trip.
The decision to relocate on the beach front to the vicinity of Powderhorn Bayou, however, made the town more vulnerable to rising waters and storm surge from tropical storms and hurricanes. The elevation at Indian Point is greater by several feet than the townsite of Indianola. Indian Point is also nearer Magnolia Beach which has significant elevation over either of the two and could have offered protection to residents from the storm surge that inundated their town. The road leaving Indianola would have been submerged by the rising bay water when the hurricane approached, leaving the residents no choice but to ride out the storm in their homes only a few feet above sea level.
The hurricane of September 1875 inflicted extensive damage and loss of life in the town and it was only partially rebuilt by locals unwilling to concede to the forces of nature. Only 11 years later in August of 1886 another hurricane brought havoc to this area of the Texas Coast and an end to this once prosperous frontier seaport."
Source: "
Indianola, Texas - Queen City of the West" website.
A Texas historical marker at the site reads:
"
Many currents of the mainstream of Texas history flow in this onetime port. Pineda explored the coast in 1519 and La Salle planted a settlement near here in 1685. Once an Indian trading point, it was a major seaport from 1844 to 1875. Texas colonists, including Germans led by Prince Carl of Solms-Braunfels, entered through Indianola. "Forty-niners", supplies for frontier forts, and experimental Army camels were landed here landed here.
During the Civil War Indianola and Fort Esperanza, which controlled the gateway to Indianola through Pass Cavallo, were objectives of Federal blockading vessels. Pass Cavallo, ten miles south, was one of several entrances to the inside waterway created by Matagorda Peninsula and the offshore islands extending to the Rio Grande. To deny Confederate use of this waterway for commerce through Mexico the Federals had to seize control of these entrances.
Before Confederate defenses at Fort Esperanza were completed, two Federal steamers slipped through Pass Cavallo to Indianola and on October 31, 1862 demanded the surrender of Lavaca (now Port Lavaca) to the Northwest. The Confederate command refused, stood off the naval guns with land batteries, and forced the withdrawal of the Federal ships.
Federal forces attacked Fort Esperanza November 22, 1863. The Confederates withstood the assault of naval and land forces for six days then spiked their guns, destroyed their magazines, and withdrew to the mainland. Indianola then fell December 23. On Christmas Eve, Federal and Confederate forces clashed at Norris Bridge, eight miles north. Two days later Lavaca was occupied and the entire Matagorda-Lavaca Bay area remained in Federal control until the war's end.
Indianola was partially destroyed by a hurricane in 1875 and completely destroyed by another in 1886."