Seguin is a historic city that dates back to the early days of Texas. A group of frontier Rangers in 1838 established a town near Walnut Springs on the Guadalupe River, surrounded by beautiful live oak trees. Col. Juan N. Seguin, a Tejano who fought alongside Anglo settlers against the brutal Mexican dictator Santa Anna, was quickly honored with the naming of the town in his honor. The last decades of the Republic of Texas saw an influx of Southern settlers who came to the region in search of farmable land. Author: Cristi Anderson Page Number: 244 – Copy Because so few plantations were established west of here, some argue that this is where the Old South came to an end. Slaves of African descent made up about 30% of the population in the county at the time of the first census.
Meanwhile, the frontier town became a hub for innovative uses of concrete. In the latter half of the nineteenth century, about one in ten buildings had been constructed using a material called “limecrete,” which had been developed in the area. Thus, this tiny town boasted the highest concentration of concrete structures in the entire nation! (It’s possible that the total number was higher in a major city in the East, but this can’t be confirmed or denied.) Sebastopol House Historic Site is one of only about 20 examples of these unique concrete relics that have survived to the present day. Don’t forget to learn about San Marcos, Texas here too.
In the 1840s, a large influx of German immigrants arrived in the area. Throughout the rest of the nineteenth century, with the exception of the years 1861-1865 due to the American Civil War, they continued to arrive in steady numbers. On their way from Indianola and Port Lavaca on Matagorda Bay to San Antonio, stagecoaches would stop at the Magnolia Hotel for the night beginning in 1848 and continuing until the arrival of the railroad in 1876. Here, under the reign of King Cotton, agriculture has been the mainstay of the local economy for decades. The Darst Creek Field was discovered in 1930, which led to an immediate oil boom. Other boomtowns also emerged rapidly, only to decline just as rapidly. Seguin, however, was already a well-established city before the oil boom, so it managed to weather the economic upheaval and amass a noteworthy collection of civic buildings and park facilities during the era. After World War II, a plethora of new economic sectors emerged.
A strong industrial base is currently provided by factories producing steel, electronic products, mowing equipment, construction material, etc. Recently, a massive, highly efficient gas-powered power plant began generating electricity. To the west of the city is home to a liberal arts college that is both highly regarded and rapidly expanding; it is the anchor of the city’s thriving service sector. On the eastern side, you’ll find a sprawling shopping, dining, and lodging district adjacent to a cutting-edge, highly regarded hospital. In the south of the metropolis, the lovely Guadalupe River flows. Beginning in the 1930s, when Seguin’s oil boom began, a beautiful public park was constructed adjacent to it. An 18-hole golf course borders a scenic drive lined with picnic tables and stretching for about a mile along the river’s edge. The fairgrounds, volleyball courts, baseball fields, and a country club are all conveniently close by. Industrial activity is concentrated in the northern part of town, which is served by both Interstate 10 and a Union Pacific mainline.
There are many beautiful historic homes in the city’s historic districts, with newer, more modern neighborhoods located on the city’s outskirts. Lake McQueeney, Lake Placid, and Meadow Lake are located on the scenic Guadalupe River, and just beyond the present-day city limits you’ll find hundreds of attractive riverfront homes.
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