West Sinton

Sinton, the county seat of San Patricio County, is at the intersection of the Southern Pacific and Missouri Pacific railroads and U.S. highways 77 and 181, near the center of the county. Soon after the San Antonio and Aransas Pass Railway built through the county in 1886, Col. George W. Fulton qv , founder of the Coleman-Fulton Pasture Company , received approval from the board of directors to give 640 acres for the townsite of Sinton on the south bank of Chiltipin Creek. The town was named for David Sinton, majority stockholder in Coleman-Fulton. The company built cattle-loading pens immediately, and a post office in the section house was granted in 1888, with Margaret Camp as postmistress. By 1892 the post office had been discontinued. The charter for the Sinton Town Company was granted in 1894 for 1,000 acres. The organizers proved to be the leading citizens in the new town: George W. Fulton, Jr., John J. Welder, David Odem, Darius Rachal, Sidney G. Borden , William J. Scofield, L. N. Scofield, S. W. McCall, and S. D. Scudder. An election made Sinton county seat on June 23, 1894, and on June 28 the commissioners' court met in Sinton. The St. Louis, Brownsville and Mexican Railway arrived in 1907. Growth was slow, and the population, reported as seventy-five in 1908, began to grow only after homeseeker trains began arriving in San Patricio County from the Midwest and from northern and central Texas. Several blocks of land were offered for sale to farmers. By 1910 the town had a number of businesses, a bank, a hotel, and a newspaper. Sinton developed as a shipping point for locally grown vegetables after J. W. Benson arrived in the county shortly before 1908 and set up packing sheds. Cattle continued to be shipped out by rail in large numbers. A four-alarm fire destroyed a block of business buildings in 1912. The city was incorporated in 1916, and W. E. Haisley was elected mayor. A home rule charter and a council-manager form of government were approved in 1966. A building boom transformed the main street into modern brick buildings shortly after World War I