COLITA, TEXAS. Colita, west of Farm Road 350 ninety miles north of Houston in west central Polk County, was one of a cluster of communities known collectively as the Louisiana Settlement. It was established around 1840 and named after Colita, a Coushatta Indian chief whose tribe had frequently camped at the site and had established friendly relations with the Texans during the Texas Revolution. The rural community had a post office from 1853 to 1909. Colita Academy, established in 1870, served local residents for twenty years. In 1900 Colita had a population of 100. In 1990 a church and two cemeteries remained near the site. In 2000 the population was fifty.
BIBLIOGRAPHY: A Pictorial History of Polk County, Texas, 1846–1910 (Livingston, Texas: Polk County Bicentennial Commission, 1976; rev. ed. 1978). Aline T. Rothe, History of Education in Polk County (M.A. thesis, University of Texas, 1934). Carl Bassett Wilson, History of Baptist Educational Efforts in Texas, 1829–1900 (Ph.D. dissertation, University of Texas, 1934).
