History of Union, Texas: A Rural Community's Journey


By: Claudia Hazlewood

Published: 1952

Updated: August 1, 1995

Union is on Farm Road 1681 twenty-two miles northeast of Floresville in eastern Wilson County. The area was settled just before the Civil War. The community grew up around a rural post office called Union Valley, which was established in 1883. S. E. Johnson, an early settler, operated a general store at the site and was the first postmaster. By 1892 the community had a three general stores, a saloon, a Methodist church, a mill and cotton gin, a grocer, a blacksmith, and a reported population of 300. A two-teacher school was in operation by 1903, when it had an enrollment of sixty-five. The post office name was changed to Union by 1900, although the church and school continued to use the older name. The post office was closed in 1915 and the mail sent from Nixon. The town continued to decline in the 1920s and 1930s, and in 1947 only two stores and a population of fifty were reported. In later years many of the remaining residents moved away, and in 1990 Union was a dispersed rural community with a population of twenty-two. The population remained unchanged in 2000.

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

Claudia Hazlewood, “Union, TX (Wilson County),” Handbook of Texas Online, accessed March 09, 2026, https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/union-tx-wilson-county.

Published by the Texas State Historical Association.

TID: HNU03

1952
August 1, 1995

Find out more about this place from our Texas Almanac.

Place
Union
Currently Exists
Yes
Place Type
Town
USGS ID
1380692
Town Fields
  • Has post office: No
  • Is Incorporated: No
Belongs to
  • Wilson County
Associated Names

-Valley

Coordinates
  • Latitude: 29.32023950°
  • Longitude: -97.84472310°
Population Counts
People Year
52 2009

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