History and Growth of Poth, Texas


By: Claudia Hazlewood

Published: 1952

Updated: May 1, 1995

Poth is at the junction of U.S. Highway 181 and Farm roads 427 and 541, seven miles southeast of Floresville in southeastern Wilson County. It was established in 1886 as a switch on the San Antonio and Aransas Pass Railway. The community was first called Marcelina but was renamed Poth in 1901, when A. H. Poth established a gin there. John Francis Stortz opened a store at the community in 1900. A depot was built at Poth in 1906, and by 1914 the town had a lumberyard, a cotton gin, a bank, a furniture and hardware store, a blacksmith, three general stores, and a population of 250. The community's population was 300 in 1920 and 600 in 1947, when it also reported twenty-three businesses. By 1965 the population of Poth was 1,119, and in 1990 it was 1,642. The number of businesses reported there had declined, however, falling from thirty-five in the mid-1960s to thirteen in 1990. In 2000 the population was 1,850 with fifty businesses.

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The following, adapted from the Chicago Manual of Style, 15th edition, is the preferred citation for this entry.

Claudia Hazlewood, “Poth, TX,” Handbook of Texas Online, accessed March 09, 2026, https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/poth-tx.

Published by the Texas State Historical Association.

TID: HJP12

1952
May 1, 1995

Find out more about this place from our Texas Almanac.

Place
Poth
Currently Exists
Yes
Place Type
Town
USGS ID
2412502
Town Fields
  • Has post office: Yes
  • Is Incorporated: Yes
Belongs to
  • Wilson County
Associated Names

Kennon City

Marcelena

Coordinates
  • Latitude: 29.07258870°
  • Longitude: -98.08093000°
Population Counts
People Year
1,642 1990
1,850 2000
1,908 2010
2,332 2019
1,819 2020
1,866 2021

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