Page 3 - Cuero, TX Downtown Plan

Section 1
Introduction

uero is the seat of DeWitt County in Texas’ were Benjamin McCulloch and Gustav Schleicher, who
Coastal Plain region, with a 2010 population surveyed the railroad and platted the new town for his
C of 6,841. The City, which partially sits astride Cuero Land and Immigration Company, and Robert J.
the Guadalupe River, was originally established in the Klebergqv, who surveyed the site in January 1873.
mid 19th century as a stopping point on the Chisholm
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Trail cattle route to Kansas. The City was officially Shipping opportunity increased in 1886 when the San
incorporated in 1873. “Cuero” is the Spanish word for Antonio and Aransas Pass Railway connected Cuero
“hide” reflecting the city’s early leather industry, which to Houston; good dirt roads and two free iron bridges
along with ranching, formed the economic foundation across the Guadalupe River also served the community.
of the community for much of the 19th century and The town’s proximity to the river provoked much
beyond. discussion of Cuero’s commercial future through
an inland waterway that was proposed but never
Cuero’s population grew considerably in the 1870s and completed. By 1887 Cuero recorded a population of
1880s, as residents from the coastal town of Indianola 2,500, mostly of German descent.
settled here after major hurricanes destroyed sizeable
portions of that city. Cuero thrived through much of Cuero had an estimated population of 3,422 in 1904
the late 19th and early 20th centuries as a center of and 3,671 by the mid-1920s, at which time the town
turkey ranching. had an assessed value of $3.7 million. The power dam
on the Guadalupe River, which formed part of the
Cuero is named after Cuero Creek, which the Spanish community’s privately owned hydroelectric plant, was
had called Arroyo del Cuero, or Creek of the Rawhide. the largest in the state.
When the Gulf, Western Texas and Pacific Railway was
extended from Indianola to San Antonio, the Cuero Today, Cuero is perhaps best known for its historic
site was chosen as a midway stopping point in the architecture, antique stores, and original events such as
construction of the line. Although the tracks were not Christmas in the Park and Turkeyfest, which includes
completed to Cuero until January 1873, construction various turkey-related events such as turkey races and
of business establishments and homes had begun as pageants. It remains the largest city in DeWitt County.
early as November 1872. Among the first residents
1 This section is partially excerpted from the Texas State Historical
Commission website.

ADOPTED 03.04.13 3