Charlotte

Charlotte is at the junction of State Highway 97 and Farm roads 140, 1548, and 1333, in southwestern Atascosa County. Coahuiltecan Indian groups once roamed the site. Charlotte was carved from the Old Tobey Ranch, which at the time of its founding was owned by Jourdan Campbell and T. H. Zanderson. In 1910 the townsite was laid out by J. F. Edwards in the form of a wagon wheel, the streets forming spokes. In 1911 J. E. Franklin, from Missouri, offered to construct a railroad through the county. Landowners donated land to help finance the project; George F. Hindes and M. M. Davis are reported to have given thousands of acres. The name Charlotte was given by Dr. Charles Simmons, who aided in the development of Atascosa County. Towns in the county were named for all three of his daughters, Charlotte, Imogene, and Christine. In the early days cotton was the principle crop around Charlotte. At one time farmers waited in line for twenty-four hours, their wagons loaded, to have their cotton ginned. But ranching is still the basic industry, and some ranchers have developed fine herds of registered cattle. Some have also established dairy farms. Oil was discovered in 1946; there are now more than 700 producing oil wells in the school district.