Flatonia

Market town for rich agricultural area, on one of this state's earliest railroads (chartered 1841 by the Republic of Texas). Situated on land granted in 1840s to rancher William A. Faires. Germans began to settle here in 1860s, and soon needed a shipping point for their products. Sailing master Friedrich Wilhelm Flato (1820-1899) and his wife Sophie, of the German Colony, had a store about 2 miles south of here. In the 1870s, Czech immigrants arrived, and the Galveston, Harrisburg & San Antonio Railroad (delayed by Civil War, 1861-65) was built to this point. John Cline, F. W. Flato, John Lattimore, and railroad president T. W. Pierce founded Flatonia on Oct. 16, 1873, naming it for the Flato family. At the same time, adjacent landowners Anton Freytag and James Faires platted Freytag and Faires' additions to the town. Post office opened in 1874. Town was incorporated Nov. 8, 1875. Soon it had churches, a school, cotton gins, a newspaper (The Flatonia "Argus"), a cottonseed oil mill, and other businesses. A casino was built for political gatherings, dances, dramas, and other uses. In 1886, a second railroad, the San Antonio & Aransas Pass, reached here. Throughout its first century, the town has remained industrious, thrifty, and stable.

Flatonia is a historical marker in Flatonia, Fayette County, dedicated in 1973. It is one of 125 historical markers documented in Fayette County in the Texas Historical Commission Atlas, among 209 historic sites cataloged across the county.

The site sits at 29.6894, -97.1076 near Flatonia. The nearest cataloged historic site is Flatonia City Hospital and Opera House (historical marker), about under a tenth of a mile away. Others within a short drive include E.A. Arnim Archives and Museum, Flatonia Baptist Church, and Flatonia Methodist Church.

This record corresponds to Texas Historical Commission Atlas #5149001906. Use the map below for its exact position and turn-by-turn directions.