Fairview

Fairview is at the junction of Farm roads 536 and 2505, ten miles west of Floresville in western Wilson County. The town was established in the late 1850s, when German and Polish settlement began in the western portion of the county. Old Rock Church, a mile north, was the site of revival meetings and the scene of the trials of outlaws captured by the last of the local vigilante committees under Charles Westermann and Drake Gilliland. A Fairview post office opened in 1868, and by 1892 the town had four churches, three general stores, a drugstore, a barbershop, and a population of 100. A two-teacher school was in operation by 1896, when it had an enrollment of sixty-seven. The post office was closed in 1908 and the mail ordered to Floresville. The town declined during the 1920s and 1930s, and by 1947 it had two stores and a population of fifty. Fairview subsequently began to grow again and in 1990 had two churches, several businesses, and 322 inhabitants. The population remained unchanged in 2000.

Adapted from the official Handbook of Texas, a state encyclopedia developed by the Texas State Historical Association (TSHA). It is an authoritative source of trusted historical records.