Dilworth

Dilworth, on Farm Road 795 in northeastern Gonzales County, was established in 1889 when the San Antonio and Aransas Pass Railway ran a spur from Shiner to Luling. The town was named for G. N. Dilworth, a banker who was instrumental in the building of the railroad. Local citizens soon erected a railroad station, a section house, a cotton-shipping platform, and stock pens. The community acquired a post office in 1892 and by 1896 had a saloon, a physician, a dentist, a blacksmith, a Methodist church, a combination mill and gin, and 150 inhabitants. In 1915 Dilworth had two general stores, but the number of citizens had dropped to seventy-five; it remained at that level through the 1950s. The post office closed in the late 1930s. By 1950 Dilworth children were being bused eight miles to Gonzales to attend school. The population declined even more in the 1960s, and from 1970 through 2000 it was estimated at fifteen.