Newgulf

NEWGULF, TEXAS . Newgulf (New Gulf) is on top of the Boling Dome , reputed to be the largest known inland deposit of sulfur in the world, in the extreme eastern corner of Wharton County between the San Bernard River and Caney Creek in the Seth Ingram league. The company-owned town was established in 1928 for the employees of the Texas Gulf Sulphur Company (now Texasgulf qv ). While the town was under construction, a contest-open to employees only-was held to name it. The winning entry was submitted by Marie Ertz, who worked at the Houston office. (Texas Gulf Sulphur's first company town was named Gulf.) About 400 houses-with one, two, or three bedrooms-were constructed and were leased to employees. The business section of Newgulf consisted of a single four-lane avenue lined with stores. At the town's zenith it had as many as fifteen businesses, including a cafe, two dry-goods stores, two grocery stores, two pharmacies, a barbershop, a tailor and cleaning shop, a movie theater, and three garages. Texas Gulf Sulphur also built a hospital, a library, a school, a post office, and a clubhouse with a nine-hole golf course. In time the company constructed four churches-Catholic, Methodist, Baptist, and Presbyterian-a Girl Scout and a Boy Scout clubhouse, and a guest lodge with two guest houses. The population of Newgulf peaked in 1940 at 1,586. Self-contained and semi-isolated, residents developed into a very close-knit community. Teamwork at the plant brought about camaraderie among Newgulf residents.