Ben Arnold

History

The community began as a stop on the San Antonio and Aransas Pass Railway in 1890 and was named for Bennie Arnold, B. I. Arnold's three-year-old daughter, who was mascot on the first train to pull into the new station. A local post office was opened in 1892, and by 1896 the community had three churches, a district school, and 125 residents. In 1903, the school had two teachers and eighty students. By the 1920s, the population of Ben Arnold rose to 250; it remained fairly stable until the late 1960s, when it declined to 148. The Ben Arnold school system was consolidated with the Cameron Independent School District by the early 1970s. In 1977, the Southern Pacific abandoned the section of track connecting Ben Arnold with Cameron to the south and Rosebud to the north. The community had 148 residents and several businesses in 1990. The population remained the same in 2000.

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• Northern Mockingbird

  Mimus polyglottos (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  386
• Turkey Vulture

  Cathartes aura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  375
• Northern Cardinal

  Cardinalis cardinalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  368
• Black Vulture

  Coragyps atratus (Bechstein, 1793) · Aves
  332
• Mourning Dove

  Zenaida macroura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  255
• American Crow

  Corvus brachyrhynchos C.L.Brehm, 1822 · Aves
  230
• Barn Swallow

  Hirundo rustica Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  217
• Carolina Chickadee

  Poecile carolinensis (Audubon, 1834) · Aves
  208

Most recent

• M 3.1 — 2026-06-04
  7 km NE of Marquez, Texas
• M 3.4 — 2026-06-04
  8 km ENE of Marquez, Texas
• M 2.9 — 2015-09-03
  7 km NNE of Leander, Texas
• M 2.7 — 2007-09-15
  11 km ENE of Milano, Texas