Rugeley

Rugeley, also known as Rugeley Switch, is on Farm Road 457 near one of its crossings over Caney Creek, nine miles east of Bay City in east central Matagorda County. Rugeley was founded by 1902, when the Hawkinsville Tap branch of the New York, Texas and Mexican Railway built through the area. The community was established near and probably took its name from the farm and plantation of Dr. Henry L. Rugeley, who lived in the area before 1895. The switch was a passenger stop and also handled shipments including sugarcane and cattle. A local history reports a population between fifty and 100 in 1917. The Hawkinsville Tap closed in 1932, and by 1936 Rugeley consisted of a business and a number of dwellings clustered around the Farm Road 457 bridge over Caney Creek. By 1952 the business was gone and many of the dwellings had been abandoned, but by 1972 there were four new dwellings in the area. The 1989 county highway map identifies Rugeley, but it shows no buildings at the site.