Kratom in Wharton

Wharton, the county seat of Wharton County, is on the east bank of the lower Colorado River, forty-five miles from the Gulf of Mexico. It was part of the Caney Run mail route established by the Republic of Texas in 1838. The community was named after two leaders in the struggle for Texas independence, brothers John and William Wharton.

The plantation community was first settled in 1846 by some of Stephen F. Austin‘s original colonists, and a post office was established in 1847. The first lieutenant governor of Texas, Albert Horton, was an early settler. Land for the courthouse square was donated by William Kincheloe and surveyed by Virgil Stewart and William J. E. Heard. Early settlers came from Alabama, Kentucky, Virginia, Georgia, and Mississippi. Jewish immigrants, arriving as early as the 1850s, established additional businesses and began the Congregation Shearith Israel, the only synagogue in a three-county area.

Other settlers in the community included Swiss, German, Mexican, and Czech immigrants and descendants of plantation slaves. Early crops included potatoes, cotton, corn, rice, and sugar cane, and commercial enterprises included cattle, molasses, and sugar. At different times the community had a cotton oil mill, a sugar cane factory, gristmills, cotton gins, a milk processing plant and dairy, an ice plant, and numerous other industries. Oil and sulfur production in the outlying areas contribute to the town’s economy. The population of Wharton was about 200 in the early 1880s.

The New York, Texas and Mexican Railway was the first railroad to arrive at Wharton in 1881, followed by the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe in 1899. These two railroads brought a new influx of settlers, increasing the population to 1,689 in 1900 and 2,346 in 1920. In 1888 the first opera house opened. The city was incorporated in 1902, when most of the structures were of wood construction. A major fire that year destroyed a number of buildings, convincing businessmen and the city government to use brick construction with fire walls for all buildings within the city limits and to construct a water system with fire hydrants.

By the 1980s Wharton had such diverse industries as Health-focus, the largest physical rehabilitation and therapy service in the nation; M. I. Drilling Fluids, a subsidiary of Magcobar Division of Dresser Industries; the Formosa Plastics Group, consisting of Nan Ya Plastics and J-M Manufacturing; Coastal Warehouse Limited, serving the agricultural industry; and Gulf Coast Medical Center and South Texas Medical clinics. The economy was also heavily dependent on the presence of the county government. In the 1980s Academy Award-winning screenwriter Horton Foote, a descendant of Lieutenant Governor Horton, lived in Wharton. The Wharton County Historical Museum is located in the community, which had a population of 9,033 in 1980 and 9,011 in 1990. In 2000 the population was 9,237. (source)

Looking for some adventure? Cowboy Up Hang Gliding offers beginner flights, training, flight school, and other services spanning equipment repair, glider storage, and equipment rental. They have been offering quality instruction since 2003, with highly trained professional staff of USHPA (United States Hang Gliding & Paragliding Association) Certified instructors and FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) Certified Flight Instructors who have decades of experience teaching and certifying pilots. The facility sports two large aircraft hangars, grass runways, picnic tables, shade, restrooms, and many other amenities that will have you wanting to spend the day at this family-friendly facility.

Marked by a life-size dinosaur at the entrance, Dinosaur Park is a neighborhood park located in south-central Wharton east of South Richmond Road along the Colorado River (see Figure 11D). The park includes a basketball court and playground area with a variety of equipment including two playscapes, swings, and monkey bars. The playground area includes picnic tables (covered) for passive recreation. A sidewalk leads into the park from Colorado Street and connects with a .016-mile concrete path that encircles the park’s basketball court. A second sidewalk extends from the park path and runs under the Colorado Street Bridge (I—59) toward Riverfront Park. Dinosaur Park does not have restrooms.

Dinosaur Park is also home to local non-profit Hesed House, which provides an array of services such as mental health counseling, yoga, meditation, and art classes, as well as hosts a community garden.