Ben Bolt

Ben Bolt is on Farm Road 2508 off U.S. Highway 281, seven miles south of Alice in south central Jim Wells County. Mexican herders were residents of the ranching area before the building of the railroad. The town was laid out in 1904 by L. B. Collins. When he named the town, which is right down the road from Alice, he did so under the influence of a popular song, "Ben Bolt," the first line of which is "Don't you remember sweet Alice, Ben Bolt?" A post office was established at Ben Bolt in 1906. By 1914 the town had fifty residents, a cotton gin, a general store, and a cattle breeder. That year the San Antonio and Aransas Pass Railway built a line through the community. By 1947 Ben Bolt had a population of 120 and four businesses. In 1950 the population was estimated at seventy-five and in 1966 at 138. From 1974 to 2000 it was 110.