Deer Park

Deer Park, in the industrial section of central Harris County, was named for the private park for deer that formerly occupied the site. The subdivision was established in 1893 and was the site of a Galveston, Harrisburg and San Antonio Railway station by about 1894. A Deer Park post office was established in 1893, discontinued in 1919, and reestablished in 1930. In 1896 the community had a population of forty, a hotel, a general store, and three resident carpenters. In the 1930s an independent school district was established, but by 1940 the population had fallen to twenty-five. By 1946, however, the area began to flourish, as Deer Park became the site of refineries and toluol plants for the production of TNT. The local Shell plant alone produced ten million gallons of toluol annually.