While manufacturing plants dominate the industry of Calhoun County today, it has not always been the biggest economic contributor to our area. The agriculture industry was once the commanding and community altering field of this county.

In the first half of the 19th century, this county saw a migration of wealthy farmers and ranchers to Green Lake looking to make their mark on the Texas coast. Amongst these was an ambitious business man from Kentucky by the name of James Foster, who came to pioneer the first stable beef shipping industry in Texas and lay the groundwork for future cattle ranchers and their philanthropic endeavors. 

After arriving in Port Lavaca in 1840, Foster moved his family to a little town called Cayloma, situated almost a mile from the center point of Calhoun County on Coloma Creek. This is where he began his endeavors to establish his own rancho on the Rio Chocolate. It only took a decade for Foster to become a powerhouse and dominate the local economy.

After securing his place in the beef industry he successfully oversaw a vote to move the county seat from Port Lavaca to Powder Horn, where he had built his own shipping port that exported beef to New Orleans and Cuba amongst other places. This helped in making Indianola the most important port on the Texas coast. However, this success didn’t come without setbacks. 

The Civil War devastated many aspects of life in the south. The beef trade was one of them. During this time of civil unrest, all beef trading ceased in the area. It wasn’t until the war ended that trading slowly began to resume. Foster, every bit of the businessman, resumed shipping before Port Lavaca could gain any momentum. Though successful in his profession, Foster eventually sold his cattle business to Sam Allen in 1871.

Once Sam Allen came into possession of Foster’s Ranch, he quickly passed the reins to his brothers-in-law, Sam and Hennessy Thomas. The Thomas family continued Foster’s success and built onto it in a way that supported their community.  Many young men were employed seasonally to help keep up with the demand, and saw it as a privilege to do so.

The Thomas family also routinely extended their blessings onto the less fortunate. Not only did they readily provide beef to the needy, they also provided fields for the people of Calhoun County to grow their own vegetables. However, hard work and dedication to their community wouldn’t be enough to keep the ranch going.

Weather played a tremendous part in the downfall of the Thomas Ranch on Rio Chocolate. In 1875, a hurricane devastated the Indianola community and wreaked havoc on the ranch. A little over a decade later, the hurricane of 1886 would devastate the Indianola community so terribly that it never recovered. What was left of the ranch would eventually be annihilated after the great freeze of 1924, killing off a good portion of wildlife and other animals along the coast. 

Foster not only made a name for himself in the county and beef shipping industry and found a way to extend his fortune, but he also laid the foundation for those to follow and build on his legacy. Once passed on to the Thomas family, they found a way to take that wealth and use it to give back to their community in a way that we still see play out in that very community today. 

Most small communities come together in need, but there’s just something a little bit more here in Calhoun County.