Cain City, Texas

Cain City is a ghost town founded in 1915, 4 miles (6.4 km) southeast of Fredericksburg in Gillespie County, in the U.S. state of Texas. It was established to be a station stop of the Fredericksburg and Northern Railway Company, of which the city's namesake Charlie Cain was a leading fundraiser. The town suffered an economic downturn within a decade of being founded.

Cain City, Texas
Ghost town
Cain City
Location within the state of Texas
Cain City
Cain City (the United States)
Coordinates: 30°11′50″N 98°48′45″W
CountryUnited States
StateTexas
CountyGillespie
Elevation
1,752 ft (534 m)
Time zoneUTC-6 (Central (CST))
 • Summer (DST)UTC-5 (CDT)
Area code(s)830
FIPS code48-11776[1]
GNIS feature ID1378083[2]

Charlie Cain

Charles Matthew Cain was born one of six children on December 12, 1881, in the Robertson County town of Calvert, Texas. His parents were Dr. Whitfield Henderson Cain, D.D.S. of Mississippi, and Elizabeth "Lizzie" Briscoe Cain of Tennessee.[3] His siblings were John G. Cain; Briscoe Whitfield Cain, D.D.S.; Claude Duval Cain; Phillip Jackson Cain; Grover Cleveland Cain; Walker Hunter Cain; and Lizzie (Townsend) Cain.[4]

Cain was educated in the public schools of Calvert, Texas, but he left school at an early age and went to Houston to seek his fortune. In 1902, Charlie (or Charley) Cain began his career as a stock room employee of the Peden Iron and Steel Company in Houston, a company established by Edward Andrew Peden in 1902.[5] After a period as road salesman for Peden, Cain became manager of Peden's San Antonio branch when it opened in 1910. In 1912, Cain was instrumental in raising $50,000 for the building of the Fredericksburg and Northern Railway.[6] Cain died in Hondo, Texas, on September 12, 1970.

Cain City

On January 3, 1913, the San Antonio, Fredericksburg and Northern Railway was chartered to connect Fredericksburg with the San Antonio and Aransas Pass Railway near Waring.[7] The initial board of directors consisted of James M. Dobie of Cotulla; C. B. Lucas of Berclair; Richard R. Russell, Thomas E. Mathis, W. W. Collier, J. H. Haile, and J. L. Browne, of San Antonio. A 920-foot (280 m) long railroad trestle was built, the cost of which sent the railroad into receivership on October 28, 1914.[8] It was sold under foreclosure on December 31, 1917, to Martin Carle, who deeded the property to the Fredericksburg and Northern Railway, which had been chartered on December 26 of that year. The train operated until July 27, 1942,[9][10] when the rail line was sold by the War Department.[11] Another source says "[t]he railroad ceased operation on October 1, 1944."[12]

In 1913, San Antonio banker J.C. Stinson bought 324 acres (1.31 km2; 0.51 sq mi) in Gillespie County, in anticipation of the construction of the Fredericksburg and Northern Railway. Surveyor A.J. Green laid out the town they named after Charlie Cain of San Antonio. The Cain City train depot established the area as an important shipping destination. Within a year, a water system was developed, and Cain City had a rural road connection to Luckenbach.[13]

Tom Schmidt opened Farmers' Produce Company warehouse, and Alfred Jung established a lumberyard. Anticipated prosperity brought a telephone exchange and two general stores. A schoolhouse was established, with Katie Striegler as teacher.[14] Hugo Pahl, also serving as the railroad agent, was Cain City's first postmaster in 1915. Robert Price succeeded him that same year, with George Price being appointed the town's last postmaster in 1919.[15] In July 1916, the Cain City State Bank was added as a member of the Texas Bankers Association, with Stinson as its president. The bank only lasted a few years before it shut down completely. Stinson moved back to San Antonio in 1922.[16]

In 1919, Gus Bausch opened a cotton gin, but prosperity was already waning in the town. The Mountain Home Hotel, opened by Mrs. Fletcher Hamilton of Illinois, was bought by J.C. Stinson and eventually sold to Mrs. Will Bird. When the town experienced an economic downturn, Bird razed the hotel. Edgar Tatsch and Theodore Keller opened a dance hall in 1927, but by that time the town was already in an advanced state of decline. Today Cain City is a ghost town.[17]

Notable people
  • Harold Billings (b. 1931) Editor, author, retired librarian instrumental in developing national and state library networking and resource sharing among libraries. Born in Cain City.

Further reading
  • Baker, T. Lindsay (1991). Ghost Towns of Texas. University of Oklahoma Press. ISBN 978-0-8061-2189-5.
  • Baker, T. Lindsay (2005). More Ghost Towns of Texas. University of Oklahoma Press. ISBN 978-0-8061-3724-7.
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References
  1. "U.S. Census website". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved 2011-05-14.
  2. "US Board on Geographic Names". United States Geological Survey. 2007-10-25. Retrieved 2008-01-31.
  3. Biographical Souvenir of the State of Texas. Chicago: F. A. Battey & Company. 1889. p. 146.
  4. Walter C Stout (1969). The First Hundred Years : A History of Dentistry in Texas. Dallas, Texas: Egan Press. p. 13. He (Dr. Whitfield H. Cain) was married to Lizzie Briscoe of Forrest, Mississippi and they had eight children.
  5. "Peden, Edward Andrew". Handbook of Texas Online. Peden, Edward Andrew. Retrieved 30 August 2012. He then switched to the hardware and mill supply business, and in 1891 founded Smith, Peden, and Company with his father. Peden’s brother joined the company three years later. In 1902 the partnership incorporated as Peden Iron and Steel Company, which proved to be a successful venture, with branches in San Antonio, Louisiana, and Mexico.
  6. Johnson, Francis White (1914). A History of Texas and Texans, Volume 3. pp. 1231, 1232.
  7. Young, Nancy Beck. "San Antonio, Fredericksburg and Northern Railway Company". Handbook of Texas Online. Texas State Historical Association. Retrieved 9 February 2011.
  8. Eckhardt, C F. "The Little Engine That Couldn't". Charley Eckhardt's Texas. Texas Escapes – Blueprints For Travel, LLC. Retrieved 9 February 2011.
  9. Schmidt, F A. "Old Tunnel Wildlife Management Area – Railroad History". Rails Through the Hill Country. Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. Archived from the original on 2011-02-21. Retrieved 9 February 2011.
  10. Murphy, Victoria A. "Fredericksburg and Northern Railway". Handbook of Texas Online. Texas State Historical Association. Retrieved 9 February 2011.
  11. "Old Tunnel Wildlife Management Area – Railroad History". Texas Parks & Wildlife. Archived from the original on 2011-02-21. Retrieved 17 March 2012.
  12. Kohout, Martin. "CAIN CITY, TX". Texas State Historical Association. Retrieved 17 March 2012.
  13. Kohout, Martin Donell. "Cain City, Texas". Handbook of Texas Online. Texas State Historical Association. Retrieved 9 February 2011.
  14. Katie Striegler at Find a Grave
  15. "Cain City Postmasters". Jim Wheat. Retrieved 9 February 2011.
  16. Texas Bankers' Association (1916). Texas Bankers Record, Volume 6.
  17. Barr, Michael (August 1, 2016). "Looking Back at Cane City". Texas Escapes. Retrieved 3 April 2020.
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