Henkhaus

Henkhaus is on the Southern Pacific line a mile west of State Highway 95 between Shiner and Moulton in western Lavaca County. During the Republic of Texas era, Henry Russell received a first-class certificate to lands along Ponton Creek and the old Columbus-Gonzales road. The gently rolling terrain and the loam and clay soils were well-suited for pasture and for many years provided excellent range for cattle. After the Civil War, German immigrants began to replace the earlier Anglo-American settlers, and the rangeland was broken into smaller farms. In 1887 the San Antonio and Aransas Pass Railway completed its line from Moulton to Shiner, and John Henkhaus built a store and cotton gin on the railroad on the old Russell land grant. A post office was established in the store in 1898 and continued to operate until 1907. The community's prosperity varied with the rise and fall of cotton prices. By 1950 improved travel conditions encouraged local residents to conduct business in nearby Shiner and Moulton, and only two businesses remained in Henkhaus to serve a population of about fifty. School consolidation at that time sent students to Moulton, and the local gin closed because of falling cotton prices. Some of the area farmland reverted to pasture, and other land was turned from cotton to grain production. In 1987 no businesses were reported at the community, but Henkhaus still had sixty residents.