Pecan

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Holman is at the intersection of Farm roads 155 and 1965, fifteen miles southeast of La Grange in southeastern Fayette County. It was originally called Pecan because its site was on Pecan Creek. The community developed on lands granted to Jesse Burnam by Stephen F. Austin on August 16, 1824. Nearby, Burnam built his home, along with a a trading post and a ferry to cross the Colorado River; the ferry was used and then destroyed by Gen. Sam Houston and the Texas army in their retreat from Gonzales after the fall of the Alamo (see TEXAS REVOLUTION). The community that developed at this site was eventually named for John Holman, who established a plantation there after marrying Burnam's daughter, and for his son Nat Holman, who during the Civil War served in Company F of Terry's Texas Rangers (see EIGHTH TEXAS CAVALRY). During the period 1850 to 1875 many German and Czech families moved into the area to grow cotton on the rich bottomlands along the Colorado River. In 1873 the Galveston, Harrisburg and San Antonio Railway extended its line westward from Columbus, and Weimar developed in Colorado County five miles south of Holman. This brought more farmers to the area but also enticed commercial interests to abandon Holman in favor of Weimar. Still Holman grew, and a post office was established there in 1891. By 1900 the community had two schools, two stores, two saloons (one with a dance hall), a blacksmith and wheelwright, and a gin, which processed an average of 1,424 bales of cotton a year. The post office closed in 1907, and most of the area trade was conducted in Weimar. The construction of St. Wenceslaus Catholic Church in 1919 gave Holman a new focal point, but the realignment of the country schools in the late 1940s divided local students into three different districts. In 1950 Holman had three businesses and seventy-five residents. Its cotton gin closed in the late 1950s. Holman's population was reported as 116 from the late 1960s through 2000. The land between Holman and the Colorado River was extensively strip-mined for sand and gravel during the early 1980s, and by 1985 only a store and the church remained to serve a scattered population. County highway maps in 2000 showed several cemeteries in the area.

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Jeff Carroll | © TSHA

Handbook of Texas Logo

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

Belongs to

Pecan is part of or belongs to the following places:

Currently Exists

No

Place type

Pecan is classified as a Town

Associated Names

  • (Holman)

Location

Latitude: 29.79606320
Longitude: -96.80553410

Has Post Office

No

Is Incorporated

No