RANCHO, TEXAS. Rancho, twenty-five miles southwest of the town of Gonzales in Gonzales County, was reportedly established around 1852. The community acquired a post office in 1855 and by 1884 had semiweekly mail service and two churches, a district school, a steam cotton gin, and a population of 100. At that time cotton and wool were apparently the mainstay of the local economy. By 1890 the Rancho population had risen to 150, and the town had daily mail service. The population was recorded at 100 again in 1892, and by then one of the churches had closed, leaving only the Methodist church. By 1896, however, the population once more totaled 150, and a Baptist church had been built. In 1904 the community supported a white school with fifty-six students and a black school with forty students. Thereafter, Rancho declined steadily. Its post office closed in 1911, population figures became unavailable, and no trace of the town was shown on the 1936 county highway map.

Stephen L. Hardin