EARLY SETTLERS OF KLEBERG COUNTY, TEXAS



The history of Kleberg County during the first fifty years is almost indistinguishable from that of the King Ranch. Therefore, the earliest settlers would be those who lived and worked on the ranch. However, in 1903, the St. Louis, Brownsville, and Mexico Railway was built through South Texas to Brownsville, and Henrietta King, owner of the King Ranch at that time, opened for sale a large tract of her land. The railroad chose the town of Kingsville to locate its headquarters bringing families of the railroad company. Theodore F. Koch, land promoter who purchased around 20,000 acres from Mrs. King in 1907, established Riviera. On Baffin Bay, a few miles to the east, Koch soon organized Riviera Beach as a vacation resort. Vattman, several miles to the northeast of Riviera, was settled in 1908 by German American families sponsored by the Catholic Colonization Society.

SOURCE: Kleberg County Historical Commission, Kleberg County, Texas (Austin: Hart Graphics, 1979).

THE FOLLOWING LIST IS A COMPILATION OF SOME FACTS EXTRACTED FROM THE FAMILY NARRATIVES PUBLISHED IN THE FOLLOWING BOOK: theKleberg County, Texas: a Collection of Historical Sketches and Family Histories American Revolution Bicentennial Heritage Project - 1976; Kleberg County Historical Commission, 1979.

SURNAME INDEX

A-C D-F G-K L-P R-T U-Z

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