ECLETO, TEXAS (Karnes County). Ecleto was at the crossing of the old road from Goliad to San Antonio and El Cleto Creek in northern Karnes County. The area evidently has long been the site of human habitation. John Charles Beales^qv in his journal mentioned the remains of an Indian encampment there in 1834. In 1852 a post office called Cleto (a corruption of El Cleto) was opened at the site, and in 1854, when Karnes County was established, the community's name was officially changed to Ecleto. In the 1850s the settlement was a way station for stages between San Antonio and Victoria and was the location of Kelly's Stage Stand, operated by Riley A. Kelly. During the Civil War^qv Ecleto was a mustering point for a company of Confederate soldiers under Capt. Thomas Rabb.^qv In 1871 the community's post office was moved to the new town of Riddleville (later Gillett) at the nearby intersection of the San Antonio-Victoria and Helena-Seguin roads. Shortly thereafter Ecleto was abandoned. The settlement is not to be confused with another Ecleto located nine miles southeast.

BIBLIOGRAPHY: Robert H. Thonhoff, History of Karnes County (M.A. thesis, Southwest Texas State College, 1963).

Robert H. Thonhoff