PHELAN, TEXAS. Phelan, two miles north of Bastrop in central Bastrop County, was the site of a lignite coal mining community that flourished briefly in the early twentieth century. A post office opened in 1905, and the town possibly drew its name from one of the postmasters, J. C. Phelan. A school was established about 1910 for the children of the mostly Mexican miners of the Independence Mining Company, later the Phelan Mining Company. In 1914 the community had a general store and a population of 800. By 1925 the population had dropped to 200, and the post office was closed in 1931. Phelan still had a school for Mexican children in 1933.
BIBLIOGRAPHY: William Henry Korges, Bastrop County, Texas: Historical and Educational Development (M.A. thesis, University of Texas, 1933). Bill Moore, Bastrop County, 1691-1900 (Wichita Falls: Nortex, 1977).
