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Colonel Henry Lawrence Kinney established a trading post in the area now known as Corpus Christi in 1839. In 1850 he planned a settlement, which came to be called Nuecestown, approximately twelve miles up the Nueces River. The public school in Nuecestown, established some years prior to 1885, was one of the largest in the county by 1893, with an enrollment of thirty-two students. At least three school buildings served the Nuecestown settlement. This structure, originally located just west of the center of the community, was erected after the first two schoolhouses burned. Constructed sometime before 1892, it features a hipped roof with a central chimney. Its one room accommodated all grades and classes of the Nuecestown school. In 1908 a school known as Bonnyview opened in nearby Calallen, and students in the area were allowed to attend the school of their choice. In 1913, however, district officials closed the Nuecestown school and transferred those students to Calallen. Twice moved, the Nuecestown schoolhouse stands as a reminder of early education in Nueces County and is one of the few remaining structures from the Nuecestown settlement. |
