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Famous Cattle Towns

Kingsville, Texas: The Town Robert Kleberg Built Beside King Ranch

Kingsville grew out of a railroad built across King Ranch land and became the working town of the ranch's South Texas country.

Why was Kingsville built?

Kingsville exists because of a railroad. The Texas Escapes history of Kingsville says Henrietta King sold land to the St. Louis, Brownsville and Mexico Railway, which was built through the King Ranch. King Ranch's own history adds that in 1904 Robert Kleberg and Henrietta King helped build the railway and establish several towns along the line, including Kingsville.

The two accounts differ slightly on dating: Texas Escapes says Kleberg formed the Kleberg Town and Improvement Company in 1903 and founded the town three miles east of the ranch, named for Richard King, while the post office and railroad passenger service followed in 1904.

Who were Richard King and Robert Kleberg?

Richard King began life as an impoverished, indentured apprentice to a jeweler and died in 1885. By the end of the Civil War his ranch had grown to 146,000 acres. He registered the Running W brand and invested in railroads, packinghouses, ice plants and harbor improvements at Corpus Christi.

Robert Justus Kleberg was a lawyer for King's firm who married Alice Gertrudis King in 1886, the year after the Captain died. He drilled artesian wells, with a major strike in 1899, designed the first cattle dipping vats to fight the Texas fever tick, and oversaw cross fencing, breed improvement and mesquite clearing. Henrietta King, the Captain's widow, worked with him to develop and consolidate the ranch, as the ranch's history page records.

What did the ranch build in Kingsville?

King Ranch projects in the new town included a hotel, an ice factory (now a museum), a cotton gin and Henrietta King High School. The railroad had its headquarters and shops in Kingsville, and about one-third of residents worked for the railroad in 1912, when the population reached 4,000.

Kleberg County was formed in 1913 with Kingsville as the county seat. Natural gas was discovered in 1920 and piped to homes and businesses.

What Made It Work

Kingsville was a planned company town on a scale few places in Texas matched, and the record shows the mechanics.

The same record shows how closely the town's fortunes tied to a single landowner and a single railroad.

  • It came with its own railroad: the ranch sold land to the St. Louis, Brownsville and Mexico Railway and helped build it.
  • It was organized through a town company, the Kleberg Town and Improvement Company, formed in 1903.
  • It gave residents work: about one-third of the 4,000 people in 1912 worked for the railroad.
  • It added civic institutions, including a high school, a hotel and an ice factory.
  • It became a county seat in 1913, when Kleberg County was formed.
  • It added education and military anchors later: the teachers college in 1925 and a naval air station in 1942.

Education, the Navy and growth

South Texas Teachers College opened in 1925, was renamed Texas College of Arts and Industries in 1929, and became Texas A&M University at Kingsville in 1993. In 1942 the Naval Air Station opened as the Kingsville Naval Auxiliary Station and housed 6,000 to 7,000 personnel during World War II. The base closed in 1946 and reopened in 1951.

Population was 25,575 in 2000 and 26,213 in 2010.

King Ranch's wider story

The ranch behind the town is a major part of American cattle history. The Santa Gertrudis breed, developed by crossing Brahman bulls with British Shorthorn stock, is recognized as the first American beef cattle breed, and the ranch's history lists the Running W brand, a corporation formed in 1934 and Triple Crown racing success in 1946. The sources reviewed describe the ranch's Kingsville headquarters only in passing, so this page treats the town and the ranch as neighbors rather than one place.

Related ranch history is collected in the ranching section of farm.FM, and one example is a farm.FM story about King Ranch.

Timeline

  1. 1885Richard King dies
  2. 1886Robert Kleberg marries Alice Gertrudis King
  3. 1899Kleberg's artesian well strike
  4. 1903Kleberg Town and Improvement Company founds Kingsville
  5. 1904Post office opens; railroad passenger service arrives
  6. 1913Kleberg County formed; Kingsville county seat
  7. 1925South Texas Teachers College opens
  8. 1942Naval Air Station opens

Frequently asked questions

Who founded Kingsville, Texas?

Robert Justus Kleberg formed the Kleberg Town and Improvement Company in 1903 and founded Kingsville beside the King Ranch, naming it for Richard King. Henrietta King sold the railroad its land.

Is Kingsville the headquarters of King Ranch?

Not exactly. Sources reviewed place the town three miles east of the ranch, and say the railroad, not the ranch, located its headquarters there.

What is Kingsville known for?

Kingsville is known for its link to King Ranch, Texas A&M University-Kingsville, and a naval air station that opened in 1942 and reopened in 1951 after closing in 1946.

Sources and further reading

Profiles are compiled from public sources and reviewed against them. See our editorial policy to suggest a correction.

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