New Fountain, Texas
New Fountain, Texas is located in Texas
New Fountain, Texas
New Fountain, Texas
Location within the state of Texas
Coordinates: 29°23′12″N 99°03′36″W / 29.38667°N 99.06000°W / 29.38667; -99.06000
CountryUnited States
StateTexas
CountyMedina
Elevation
[1]
853 ft (260 m)
Time zoneUTC-6 (Central (CST))
 • Summer (DST)UTC-5 (CDT)
Area code830
FIPS code48-50928[2]
GNIS feature ID1380889[1]

New Fountain is a ghost town established in 1846. It is located 1.8 miles (2.9 km) west of Quihi and 5.6 miles (9.0 km) east northeast of Hondo in Medina County in the U.S. state of Texas. It was part of empresario Henri Castro's colonization of the Medina River valley in the Republic of Texas.[3]

History

New Fountain, was a settlement founded in 1846, by Henri Castro's colonists from the nearby settlement of Vandenburg. When the springs upstream on Verde Creek dried up they moved to a new water source found four miles downstream, calling their settlement New Fountain for the spring. In 1857, New Fountain was the fourth post office to be established in Medina County which remained until 1914.[4] By 1858, Rev. John Schaper had organized a Methodist church,[5] which with its cemetery, is now the last vestige of this old settlement remaining. By 1860 New Fountain had besides the Methodist church, a mill, and a Masonic lodge and was a stagecoach stop on the San Antonio-El Paso Road. A New Fountain School was established in 1876, and by 1896 the community had a population of 400.[6]

References

  1. ^ a b U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: New Fountain, Texas
  2. ^ "U.S. Census website". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved 2011-05-14.
  3. ^ Haass, H.E. (July 1908 – April 1909). "A Brief History of Castro's Colony". The Quarterly of the Texas State Historical Association. XII. Austin, TX: 80–81.
  4. ^ "Medina County Post Offices". Jim Wheat. Retrieved December 5, 2013.
  5. ^ "New Fountain United Methodist Church". Texas Historical Commission. Retrieved December 5, 2013.
  6. ^ Ochoa, Ruben E. "New Fountain, Texas". Handbook of Texas Online. Texas State Historical Association. Retrieved December 5, 2013.


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