Hankamer is an unincorporated

Unincorporated area

In law, an unincorporated area is a region of land that is not a part of any municipality.To "incorporate" in this context means to form a municipal corporation, a city, town, or village with its own government. An unincorporated community is usually not subject to or taxed by a municipal government...

 populated place in northern Chambers County, Texas

Texas

Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. It is located northeast of Lake Anahuac adjacent to Wallisville

Wallisville, Texas

Wallisville is an unincorporated town in northern Chambers County, Texas, United States, just east of the Trinity River along Interstate 10 and north of Lake Anahuac.-History:...

 on Highway 61

State Highway 61 (Texas)

Texas State Highway 61 is a state highway in southeast Texas. It connects Anahuac in Chambers County to Devers in Liberty County.-Route description:...

.

Historical development

In the spring of 1904, a post office was established at Hankamer with Ira Alvan Hankamer (1869-1945) designated as postmaster on May 24. The town took his name. Ira was a son of settler John William Hankamer (1834 - 1907) who arrived in Texas in 1845 with his brothers Charles and Frederick, mother Johannette, and stepfather John Stengler, who sailed on the Harriet from Prussia to Galveston. They became citizens of the Republic of Texas. The Hankamers and Stenglers had planned to settle in the New Braunfels - Fredericksburg

Fredericksburg, Texas

Fredericksburg is the seat of Gillespie County, in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2010 Census estimate, the city had a population of 10, 530...

 area, but news of Indian trouble prompted them to choose the area north of Anahuac. A grandson of Ira A. Hankamer currently resides in his old house at Hankamer.

This town was named after I. A. Hankamer, an early settler to the area. In 1900 the Hankamer-Stowell Canal Company (also called Farmers Canal Company) started the area rice

Rice

Rice is the seed of the monocot plants Oryza sativa or Oryza glaberrima . As a cereal grain, it is the most important staple food for a large part of the world's human population, especially in East Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, the Middle East, and the West Indies...

 farming which would transform the surrounding region. Within two years, 10,000 acres (40 km²) of rice fields would be irrigated. The Hankamer post office was opened in 1904. In 1929, oil

Oil

An oil is any substance that is liquid at ambient temperatures and does not mix with water but may mix with other oils and organic solvents. This general definition includes vegetable oils, volatile essential oils, petrochemical oils, and synthetic oils....

 was discovered nearby in Liberty County

Liberty County, Texas

Liberty County is a county located in Texas within the Houston–Sugar Land–Baytown metropolitan area. As of the 2010 United States Census, the population was 75,643. Its county seat is Liberty.-Geography:According to the U.S...

which would boost the population. In addition to the exploration for oil and gas establishing new oilfields, a lumbermill would provide employment.

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