Nixon, Texas

Fannie Andrews Nixon, wife of Old Nixon, Texas founder, Robert Thomas Nixon (1879)

In 1852, Robert T. Nixon at the northern Gonzales—Guadalupe County line founded the original settlement of Nixon, now known as the ghost town “Old Nixon;” a former 14,000 acre plantation between Belmont-Luling.[13] His brother John T. Nixon lived at Rancho near what is now northern Nixon in southern Gonzales County. The name of Nixon was later taken from the former town and applied to the new town formed on John T. Nixon’s land.

In 1899, Old Nixon at Guadalupe County had a cotton gin (Nixon-family owned), two schools, a church, a blacksmith, several residences; alongside “Wagner’s Store” and “Nixon and Stephens: Dealers in Dry Goods, Notions, Fine Groceries and General Merchandise.” The latter was owned by W.H. Stephens and Sam Nixon.

The only remaining establishment of the original Old Nixon settlement is its cemetery.[14][15][16]

While Old Nixon was being founded, the settlement of Rancho grew at the northern boundary of present-Nixon and the country store of Paul Murray, on land he purchased in 1849. His store was located at the intersection of roads that led to the important settlements of San Antonio, Gonzales, Seguin, Cuero, Goliad and Indianola. Murray had come to Texas from Mississippi and was soon followed by many of his Mississippi neighbors. They came in search of farm land, but soon abandoned the plow to adopt the cowboy culture of the area, as unbranded range cattle were everywhere and free for the taking.

The name “Rancho” was the first name given to the developing Nixon settlement as a ranching culture developed. Some of the earliest open range branding codes in Texas originated here in 1866, as local stockmen were gathering cattle herds to be driven to northern markets by Rancho cowboys. These codes facilitated the system of marking and tracking the cattle that mingled together in open, unfenced ranges. A post office was officially established in 1855, and Rancho grew to have several businesses, as well as a school and two churches.

Rancho began a rapid decline in population when the Galveston, Harrisburg and San Antonio Railroad bypassed the town in 1906, and many residents relocated to the new railroad town of Nixon, two miles to the south. The post office closed in 1911, and by that time, many of Rancho’s buildings had been moved to Nixon and most of Rancho’s residents had relocated to the new town. Although virtually no visible evidence of the town of Rancho remains, the town’s short existence stands as a reminder of the hundreds of similar towns that fell prey to the railroads that crossed Texas during the late 19th century.[17]

Near the Wilson County—portion of Nixon, the town of Union or “Union Valley” had its postal services moved to Nixon in 1915. Settled before the American Civil War, the town had a population as high as 300 and several stores before its general consolidation into the Nixon community alongside FM 1681.

In 1947, the Union area had a nominal population of 50, with 22 reported in 1990 through 2000.[18]

In the early 20th century, Nixon had a local newspaper titled Nixon News. It was forced to cease publication in September 1921. The editor cited reasons ranging from a lack of advertisement in the paper, lack of support from local businesses and apathy from the general community. The Daily Advocate newspaper of Victoria, Texas, during this period, suggested that the downscaling of another significant Texan paper was a related trend.[19]

The trade-name of the paper returned as early as 1980 through 1986, serving as an executive over three annual city festivals; celebrating Nixon’s overall production of a broad-range of poultry products and byproducts, purportedly the highest in the State of Texas at that time. At present Nixon News is, again, no longer published but was considered award-winning in “Community Service” by the Texas Press Association in 1980.[20]

In 2007, a former private facility in Nixon, "Texas Sheltered Care", that held children caught illegally crossing the US-Mexico border, was ordered closed due to allegations of sexual abuse. It operated under contract of the federal government's Department of Health and Human Services. Its 72 residents were sent to other shelters outside of Nixon, due to a lack of confidence of being able to reopen in the city. Immigration lawyers were forced to abandon their Nixon practices that served the detainees in the facility.[21] The FBI and local authorities investigated the alleged incidents, with an accused staff member fired.[22] The accused was later criminally charged and sentenced to prison.[23]

Since approximately 2015, the Nixon intersection of U.S. Highway 87 and Texas State Highway 80 has been marked by the Texas Department of Transportation having to hire and replace multiple contractors, after continual delay to install traffic signals over three-and-a-half years; an installation that would normally be a "routine upgrade." The Nixon City Manager hypothesized the delays began with a first contractor "not working in a timely manner." After a first contractor, time was consumed by an initial six-month delay, another set of construction bids and years of replacement of prior work.[24]

In late March 2020, the first confirmed case of COVID-19 in Gonzales County was discovered in Nixon.[25]

In early 2020, the Texas Department of Public Safety Criminal Investigations Division and the Nixon Police Department targeted the sale of crystal meth in the Gonzales—Wilson County area, under the name Operation Torch. A significant number of arrest warrants were served in the Nixon-Pandora-Stockdale-Smiley municipal-area. The investigation began with analysis of the local impact of meth distribution in Nixon, eventually uncovering a "drug network of distributors." Five of the targeted subjects, fifteen in total, were from the Nixon area. During this time period, eleven arrests were made, with four remaining at-large.[32]

In 2018, former Nixon city manager and local substitute teacher, Manuel Zepeda, was charged with 11 sexual felonies against children.[33]

In 2011, former Nixon councilman Auvye Trammel, having once served 21 years on the city council through two terms,[34] was sentenced to 18 months in federal prison for connections with drug trafficking marijuana from Mexico; Trammel had posted bail for a known trafficker. He had also been prior charged for a chase involving the trafficker.[35]

The then-current Nixon police chief was fired during the trafficking investigation just prior to Trammel's arrest; the former chief cites reasons of retaliation for investigating the then-councilman, while the city claims he failed to meet occupational standards.[36]