The Ghost Town Beneath the Bay

By Murray Montgomery  -  Staff Writer

The story of Indianola, Texas, is a sad one – from a prosperous port in 1875 to a ghost town today – its demise can be blamed on Mother Nature.

Indianola’s history is indeed a colorful one, to say the least. From the time it was founded in 1846 as “Indian Point” by Sam Addison White and William M. Cook, the community has seen camels walk its streets and ocean-going vessels tied up at its docks. The old port came into being on Matagorda Bay in what is now Calhoun County.

Johann Schwartz built the first house in the area in 1845. Indian Point became firmly established as a deep-water port during the Mexican War. For thirty years its army depot supplied frontier forts in western Texas. Anglo-American landowners in the area had the site surveyed in 1846 and began selling lots.

The post office was opened in1849, and the name of the growing town was changed to Indianola. It was the county seat of Calhoun County from 1852 to 1886. The town grew rapidly, expanding three miles down the beach to Powderhorn Bayou, after a New York based steamship line decided to build a terminal there. Stagecoach service to the interior had already begun in January 1848. 

The first newspaper in Indianola was the Bulletin, founded in 1852 by John Henry Brown. Other papers of the period were the Courier, the Times, and the Indianolan. The town was incorporated in 1853. That same year, City Hospital began operation.

According to The Handbook of Texas, in 1856 and 1857 two shiploads of camels were landed at Indianola. The animals were used in one of the most extraordinary experiments in American history, the use of camels in the transportation of military supplies.

During the Civil War, Indianola was bombarded by Union gunboats on October 26, 1862, then occupied and looted. The Union forces withdrew the following month but returned in November 1863, seized the city again, and remained until 1864.

However, it seems that even a war couldn’t stop the phenomenal growth of the town. The world's first shipment of mechanically refrigerated beef moved from Indianola to New Orleans on the Morgan steamship Agnes in July 1869, opening a new era in the transportation of perishable goods. Railroad service from Indianola to the interior began in 1871.

There’s an old saying that says, “good things never last,” and that verse rings true when it comes to the history of Indianola. With a population of more than 5,000, Indianola was at the peak of her prosperity when the 1875 hurricane struck. The town rebuilt on a smaller scale and then was almost obliterated by the hurricane of August 20, 1886, and the accompanying fire. By 1887 the site had been abandoned.

According to an entry on Wikipedia, “Today, almost nothing remains of the original Indianola, as, due to storm erosion, most of the site of the city is now underwater. A granite marker was placed on the shore at the nearest point to the Indianola courthouse, now 300 feet (about 90 meters) away in Matagorda Bay. It reads, ‘Calhoun County Courthouse. Edward Beaumont, Architect 1859. During the Storms of 1875 and 1886, precious lives were saved within its walls of shell, concrete, and lime. Abandoned 1886.’”

In conclusion, we do know that there is still some life near Indianola. Beach houses adorn the area and “The Indianola Fishing Marina” is located at the mouth of Powderhorn Bayou.