Spanish Camp

Spanish Camp is just north of the junction of Farm roads 640 and 1161, eight miles northwest of Wharton on a mail route from Glen Flora in northeastern Wharton County. Settlers established the community during the early days of Stephen F. Austin's colony. It was named after 1836 for Mexican forces under Antonio López de Santa Anna who camped at the sulphur springs on Peach Creek. According to legend the Mexicans carried a large payroll of gold, which was hastily buried when they received news of the decisive battle of San Jacinto. The encampment site became a local landmark, but the community did not grow significantly until after the Civil War. A post office was established in 1877, and Thomas Habermacher built a store, cotton gin, and sawmill. In 1885 Spanish Camp had two churches, a school, a gristmill, two stores, and a population of fifty. By 1890 the population had increased to 200, but when the community was missed by the railroad, it dropped to fifty by 1900. The post office was discontinued in 1905. State highway maps in 1936 showed a factory and multiple dwellings at the townsite, but by 1947, when population estimates were last recorded, only a single business and a population of twenty remained. In 1989 the Spanish Camp oilfield and numerous gravel pits were in the area, and two churches, three cemeteries, four businesses, and scattered dwellings were located within a mile of the community center.