The town of Green Lake began in the 1840s when groups of wealthy planters, their families and their slaves arrived from Kentucky to begin growing cotton along the Gulf Coast of Texas.
Beset by storms, but finally done in by the labor shortage caused by the abolition of slavery after the Civil War, by 1875 most of the original settlers had left and the community of Green Lake had passed into history.
The site historical marker at the side of the community reads as follows:
"GREEN LAKE
Named for the nearby tidal lake of the same name, the community of Green Lake began to develop in the late 1840s, although records indicate there were some settlers in the area before that time. A group of wealthy planters from Kentucky migrated to the area about 1849, along with their families and many slaves. They established extensive cotton plantations and built large and impressive homes.
Early in its history, in 1851, a tornado struck the settlement, but miraculously caused little property damage and no injuries. A private school was established in 1852 and served children of the Green Lake and surrounding communities.
The outbreak of the Civil War caused many changes in Green Lake. Following the U.S. surrender by General David Twiggs in 1861, Federal troops camped near here awaiting transport ships. With its agricultural economy based largely upon slave labor, Green Lake declined following the war when landowners, facing a labor shortage, began to leave the area. By 1875 most of the original settlers were gone.
Although in existence a relatively short period of time, Green Lake contributed to the history of Calhoun County.
(1988)"
From The Handbook of Texas online: (
visit link)
"GREEN LAKE, TX.
Green Lake, at the junction of State Highway 35 and Farm Road 404, twelve miles southwest of Port Lavaca in western Calhoun County, was settled as early as 1850 by Kentucky cotton planters. A contemporary observed: "Green Lake was once the locality of a neighborhood characterized by [the] wealth and social standing of the residents." At the beginning of the Civil War, federal troops under Gen. David E. Twiggs mustered at nearby Green Lake (after which the community was named) to await ships to return to the north. After the war local planters found themselves without horses, mules, farming equipment, money, or slaves. Consequently, Green Lake was almost entirely abandoned. By 1900, however, the fertile soil near the lake drew people back to the area and to the community. The influx of residents was encouraged by the arrival of the St. Louis, Brownsville and Mexico Railway by 1910. In 1914 Green Lake had a general store, a telephone connection, and an estimated population of 300. A post office opened there in 1912, but it closed in 1916. It reopened in 1929 but was discontinued after 1930. By 1933 Green Lake had dwindled to twenty-five inhabitants and four businesses. In 1936 the community had one seasonal industry, three other businesses, and several surrounding farms; the population was still estimated at twenty-five and continued to be reported at that level until 1970, when it was fifty-one. In 1947 oil was discovered in the Green Lake oilfield, a mile east of the community. In 1984 there were twenty wells in the field, but only one of them was still producing oil. That year the total yield for the Green Lake oilfield was 981 barrels of hydrocarbon and 76,329 thousand cubic feet of natural gas. In the early 1990s Green Lake still had a population of fifty-one, but no businesses. The population remained the same in 2000."