HistoricSiteMarkers
Reconstruction & Gilded Age

Site of Quinan Community

Hungerford, Wharton County, Texas

Marker Inscription

The village of Quinan was established about 1872 on the Wharton-Richmond road. It was named for Judge George E. Quinan (1819-1893), who lived south of here on Peach Creek. A native of Ireland, Quinan served in the Texas Senate and on the state Court of Civil Appeals. He was one of the founders of the State Bar of Texas. The community named for him had a school, Methodist church, and a post office located in John C. Habermacher's store. The Quinan community declined after the founding of Hungerford in 1882. The post office and businesses were relocated here later.

Erected by Texas Historical Commission

The Story

Founded about 1872 on the Wharton-Richmond road, the village of Quinan was named for Judge George E. Quinan, an Irish immigrant who served in the Texas Senate and on the Court of Civil Appeals and helped found the State Bar of Texas. The community had a school, a Methodist church, and a post office in Habermacher's store, but it declined after nearby Hungerford was founded in 1882, and its post office and businesses eventually moved away.

Why it matters

Quinan's brief rise and fall illustrates how the coming of the railroad could make one town and unmake another, leaving behind ghost communities across rural Texas.

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Related people

  • · George E. Quinan
  • · John C. Habermacher

Themes & tags

Westward ExpansionImmigrationGhost TownsLandmark

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