FORT GATES, TEXAS. The Fort Gates community is on State Highway 36 a mile southeast of Gatesville in east central Coryell County. It grew up around Fort Gates, a frontier outpost established in 1849, and was the first settlement in Coryell County. Although the fort was officially abandoned in 1852, the community remained, serving as county seat from February 4 to May 27, 1854, when the county government was moved to Gatesville. Most residents moved their homes and businesses to Gatesville as well, and the Fort Gates community all but died. It was revived in the 1940s after the establishment of the Fort Hood military reservation in southern Coryell County. The town was incorporated in February 1966, when its population was 250. In the 1980s Fort Gates had several residential areas, a business district consisting primarily of service industries, and an estimated population of 755. In 1990 its population was 818. The population grew to 847 by 2000.
BIBLIOGRAPHY: Coryell County Genealogical Society, Coryell County, Texas, Families, 1854-1985 (Dallas: Taylor, 1986).
