New Port

Linnville was on Lavaca Bay twenty miles from Victoria at a site then in Victoria County and now in Calhoun County. It was one of the most important ports of entry during the early period of the Republic of Texas. The town, originally called New Port, was established by John J. Linn in 1831. It was in De León's colony on a quarter-league grant belonging to Pedro Gonzales. Linn was perhaps assisted in the founding by William G. Ewing, another prominent merchant. Like Cox's Point, Dimmitt's Landing, and Texana, the other ports around Lavaca Bay, Linnville grew up around a core of warehouses. In structures owned by Linn, Ewing, and others were stored goods unloaded from ships and destined for inland markets such as Victoria, Gonzales, and San Antonio; eventually Linnville also became the site of the customhouse for the District of Lavaca.

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.