NURSERY, TEXAS (Victoria County). Nursery, on U.S. Highway 87 ten miles northwest of Victoria in Victoria County, is named for the fact that horticulturist Gilbert Onderdonk^qv in 1883 established a branch of his nursery there on the San Antonio and Mexican Gulf Railway. The local sandy loam soil with clay subsoil provided an excellent laboratory and the railroad a convenient shipping point. The site was originally part of a 4,428-acre tract belonging to Silvestre De León,^qv a son of empresario^qv Martín De León.^qv A post office was established at the site in 1884 with Onderdonk as postmaster. During peak shipping and processing times the population of Nursery reached perhaps a few hundred. In 1900 the community had, in addition to the train station, a doctor, a hotel, a gristmill, two gins, and a number of stores and restaurants. From 1974 to 1990 its population was estimated at 106. In 1985 the post office, a few businesses, and a seven-grade school remained at the site. By 2000 the population grew to 260.

BIBLIOGRAPHY: Memorial and Genealogical Record of Southwest Texas (Chicago: Goodspeed, 1894; rpt., Easley, South Carolina: Southern Historical Press, 1978). Victoria Advocate, Progress Edition, March 10, 1963.

Craig H. Roell