AGUA DULCE, TEXAS. Agua Dulce is located on the Texas Mexican Railway at the intersection of Farm Road 70 and State Highway 44 in west central Nueces County. The name, Spanish for "sweet water," refers to a nearby creek. The settlement existed by the 1900s. In August 1908 the post office was established with James L. Petray as postmaster. In 1910 the Agua Dulce Independent School District was founded; Sophinia Thompson was the first teacher. The school system was consolidated with that of Bentonville in 1932. Agua Dulce profited from an oil boom in the 1930s. The first seismographic survey done in Nueces County was done in Agua Dulce by E. E. Rosaire. Several gas wells are located there, as well as the Agua Dulce oilfield, which was opened in 1928. In 1914 the population of Agua Dulce was 100, and the town had a general store, a lumber mill, a cotton gin, a blacksmith, a confectioner, and a grocer. Between 1940 and 1945 the population increased from 200 to 750. In 1961 thirty businesses were in operation. In 1990 the population was 794, and in 2000 the population had declined somewhat to 737.

BIBLIOGRAPHY: Nueces County Historical Society, History of Nueces County (Austin: Jenkins, 1972). Vertical Files, Barker Texas History Center, University of Texas at Austin.

Robin Dush