Phelan, Texas
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Phelan is a ghost town in Bastrop County, Texas, United States. It is located 2 miles (3.2 km) north of Bastrop near the intersection of Farm to Market Road 157 (Sayers Road) and Farm to Market Road 36 (Phelan Road). It is on private property.[1]
The town was founded in 1903, when John C. Phelan established the Independence Mining Company of Fort Worth to develop a lignite coal property in Bastrop County. The new mining community was likely named after Phelan.[2]
In 1905, the town was granted a request for a post office. John Phelan served as one of the first postmasters. A school was constructed in 1910 for children of the mostly Mexican miners who worked at the colliery. By 1914, Phelan had a general store and a population of 800.[1]
Although the school operated through 1933, the population had dropped to 200 by 1925, and the post office shut down in 1931.[1] Coal mining in Bastrop County continued into the 1940s before it was abandoned.[3]
