Hungerford

History

Alexander Jackson was one of the Old Three Hundred colonists from the United States who accepted land grants from Stephen F. Austin. The Alexander Jackson league was a strip of land which was bounded on the southwest by the Colorado River, just northwest of present-day Wharton and ran northeast beyond West Bernard Creek. After the Texas Revolution, the Republic of Texas set up a short-lived ordnance depot called Post West Bernard Station at a location northwest of present-day Hungerford. Its purpose was to recondition weapons captured at the Battle of San Jacinto and to watch for a possible invasion by the Mexican army. In 1872, the village of Quinan was founded approximately west of present-day Hungerford. The Quinan post office was established in 1874 in the general store owned by John C. Habermacher, who also served as postmaster. Habermacher was once a member of Edwin Booth's acting troupe. His wife, Annie Thatcher, was Alexander Jackson's granddaughter. In 1882, the New York, Texas and Mexican Railway was built through the newly surveyed town of Hungerford, which was in the adjacent George W. Singleton league. Most of Quinan's businesses moved to the railroad, followed by the post office in 1883. The new town was named after Daniel E. Hungerford, who was the father-in-law of Count Joseph Telfener, president of the company, and of the railroad's major investor, John William Mackay. In 1885, Hungerford boasted 200 residents, several churches, a steam cotton gin, a gristmill, and a school. In 1908, the town became the headquarters for the J. D. Hudgins Ranch. In 1926, the Strouhal Tire Recapping Company opened in Hungerford. That year, the town had 13 businesses, including three general stores. Five different area schools counted a total of 259 black students,…

Geography

Hungerford is located at (29.399122, -96.077019). According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 1.8 square miles (4.7 km2), all land.

Race & ethnicity

Largest nearby schools

• WHARTON H S
  High · WHARTON · 570 students · 12.4:1 ratio
• WHARTON EL
  Elementary · WHARTON · 476 students · 19.8:1 ratio
• C G SIVELLS EL
  Elementary · WHARTON · 429 students · 20.4:1 ratio
• EAST BERNARD EL
  Elementary · EAST BERNARD · 379 students · 13.5:1 ratio
• WHARTON J H
  Middle · WHARTON · 369 students · 10.5:1 ratio
• EAST BERNARD J H
  Middle · EAST BERNARD · 302 students · 14.4:1 ratio
• EAST BERNARD H S
  High · EAST BERNARD · 293 students · 9.8:1 ratio