Flatonia Commercial Historic District Listed in the National Register of Historic Places
T he Flatonia Commercial Historic District in Flato-
nia, Fayette County, was recently listed in the National Register of Historic Place. The Texas Historical Commission assisted in the nomination of the district in recognition of its importance of the history of Flatonia and the district joins other properties around the state with National Register status. The Flatonia Commercial Historic District is a 36-acre area in central Flatonia, Texas. Most of the district’s historic properties are one and two story commercial buildings constructed of local stone or brick during the late 19th century, representing the city’s primary periods of development. Several historic industrial buildings stand at the district’s perimeter. Flatonia was incorporated in 1875 along the Galveston, Harrisburg and San Antonio Railroad, and the railroad tracks bisect the district into roughly two
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halves.The district’s oldest building related to this rail history and the resulting the commercial and industrial development. For more than a decade after its establishment, Flatonia enjoyed the position of being the only rail shipping point in the middle of a large trading area. Although many small rail towns in Texas began to decline in the 1920’s with the advent of the automobile, downtown Flatonia experienced a second wave of economic investment and development after securing a spot on the Old Spanish Trail (later Highway 90), on of the counthrough Great Depression and war years, and the and architectural trends common to rural Texas. Overall the district retains a high degree of integrity and stands as a well-preserved example of a small town commercial center.
FLATONIA, TEXAS VISITORS & RELOCATION MAGAZINE
