Phair

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Map of Brazoria County

Stratton Ridge, also known as Ranch Prairie and Phair (but not to be confused with a community known as Stratton near Hinkle's Ferry), is a dispersed settlement thirteen miles east of Brazoria on the Missouri Pacific Railroad in southeastern Brazoria County. The community is located near sulfur and oil deposits on the north edge of the Stratton Ridge dome. The settlement was originally named for George H. Phair, a Methodist circuit rider who served the Velasco circuit in 1875–76 and from 1882 to 1885. Phair had a local church and cemetery with burials dating to 1853. A post office operated at Phair from 1886 until 1900. The local population was 170 in 1890, but residents left after the Galveston hurricane of 1900. By 1904 the community had a one-room schoolhouse on Big Slough, a lodge, a building of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, used by all denominations, a general store, and a gin. In 1906 a local school with two teachers enrolled twelve pupils.

Afterward, the scattered community became known as Stratton Ridge. According to some sources, the new name is derived from a church built in 1933 by Carrie Stratton Brock in honor of her father, J. T. Stratton, an early area settler. By 1936 state highway maps indicated Stratton Ridge but did not show Phair, and by 1979 an abandoned railroad station and Bethel Church nearly a mile away were all that remained at the townsite.

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Diana J. Kleiner | © 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

Phair is part of or belongs to the following places:

Currently Exists

No

Place type

Phair is classified as a Town

Associated Names

  • (Stratton Ridge)

Has Post Office

No

Is Incorporated

No