Hatchel

HATCHEL, TEXAS . Hatchel, on U.S. Highway 83 in central Runnels County, was originally named Vogelsang for Otto Vogelsang, a local settler. With the establishment of a post office in 1904, it was named for E. W. Hatchel, a storekeeper and the community's first postmaster. The Abilene and Southern Railway reached Hatchel in 1909, and soon the community comprised more than eight businesses, including a depot, cattle pens, and a gin. The town declined, and by the 1970s it had lost its post office. The population of Hatchel was reported as fifty in 1940 and as sixteen in 1980 and 1990.