LaCoste

LaCoste, originally known as Fernando, is on the Southern Pacific Railroad and Farm Road 471 five miles southeast of Castroville in eastern Medina County. A post office was established in Fernando in 1893 with Edwin Fendall Howard as postmaster. By 1896 the settlement had a population of twenty-five, two general stores, two saloons, and a daily stage to Castroville for a fare of fifty cents. On May 22, 1898, the post office changed its name to LaCoste, for Jean B. LaCoste , a prominent San Antonio businessman and a native of France. In 1912 Our Lady of Grace Catholic Church was built at the community, with Corinthian columns, Gothic arches, large stained-glass windows, and fine acoustics. By 1914 LaCoste had grown to 400 inhabitants, who supported the Catholic church and school, two cotton gins, the LaCoste National Bank, and a weekly newspaper, the Medina Valley Herald