| On April 4, 1846,
Calhoun County was formed from parts of Victoria, Jackson, and
Matagorda counties and named for John C. Calhoun of South
Carolina, who had advocated Texas statehood. Lavaca was the
first county seat. But, as a result of the development of the
Indianola Railroad, the formation of other transportation lines,
and a shift of population, Indianola became more important and
was made county seat in 1852.
Because of the impact on its port
facilities, Calhoun County felt the brunt of the war more than
many Texas counties. During the war, women and slaves raised
cotton, planted vegetables, and subsisted on cattle driven in to
feed the families of soldiers. Although Union troops were
stationed in Calhoun County, the chief problems of the
post-Civil War years were not political. A fire in 1867
destroyed buildings at Indianola, and a yellow fever epidemic
reduced the population. In 1875 a Gulf storm brought heavy
damage to Indianola, which recovered only briefly before a tidal
wave virtually destroyed the community in 1886. |