Choate

Choate is seven miles southeast of Kenedy in southeastern Karnes County. It developed between Hondo and Cottonwood creeks on the road from Goliad to Kenedy and was named after James Monroe Choate, a prominent rancher of the area. Many of its settlers were from Oklahoma, and the area was known as the "Oklahoma" settlement. They were predominantly Baptists and Methodists. The post office of Choate was established in 1902 and was discontinued in 1909. A store, a school, a church, a blacksmith shop, and a cotton gin were built. The area's population was estimated at seventy-five from the 1930s until the 1950s, when a drought caused a decline. The school was closed in the 1960s; two churches and a cemetery still remained in the early 1980s. Choate was still listed as a community in 1990. The population was twenty in 2000.