Cook Travelogue 2007-8-9: Indianola Ghost Town

On February 4, Marlin found a notation on the map for a "Ghost Town" that sparked his imagination. Indianola is currently referred to as a ghost town. Now, I would expect to see some old dilapidated buildings or some kind of ruins at a place labeled "ghost town". Arriving in Indianola it looked to be just another small, economically struggling beach town on a shallow bay. The whole story of the ghost town called Indianola was told by multiple historical markers throughout the area.

Once a thriving port, rivaling that of Galveston, Indianola was also an immigration disembarking point for thousands of Germans coming to Texas for new opportunities in the late 1840's and 1850's.
The town suffered a heavy blow during a cholera and yellow fever epidemic in 1852, but the real demise of the town began with the hurricane of 1875 and was completed by the hurricane of 1886. This last storm silted in the harbor to such a great extent that it could not be dredged and ships could no longer enter the port. Many of the stately homes that survived were moved inland to towns like Goliad, Fredericksburg, and Victoria, Texas. All that remains of that thriving city are the cemetery and many of historical markers.

All that remained of a life size statue of LaSalle after the 1886 hurricane. LaSalle, a French explorer, in 1685 established the first colony at this harbor in Matagorda Bay. That colony was soon moved to Fort St. Louis.