New Fountain, 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; -99.06000Coordinates: 29°23′12″N 99°03′36″W / 29.38667°N 99.06000°W / 29.38667; -99.06000
Country United States
State Texas
County Medina
Elevation 853 ft (260 m)
Time zone Central (CST) (UTC-6)
  Summer (DST) CDT (UTC-5)
Area code(s) 830
FIPS code 48-50928[1]
GNIS feature ID 1380889[2]

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 settement 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 it had a population of 400.[6]

References

  1. "American FactFinder". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved 2011-05-14.
  2. "US Board on Geographic Names". United States Geological Survey. 2007-10-25. Retrieved 2008-01-31.
  3. Haass, H.E. (July 1908 – April 1909). "A Brief History of Castro's Colony". The Quarterly of the Texas State Historical Association (Austin, TX) XII: 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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