STEINER, TEXAS. Steiner, formerly called Fowler, was on the banks of Steele Creek near its confluence with the Brazos River in eastern Bosque County. James Lane purchased land near the site of future Fowler in 1869. The Texas Central Railroad built a line through Fowler in 1880, and a post office was established in that year. By 1884 the town had an estimated population of fifty; its flour mill, cotton gins, stores, and physician provided goods and services to the surrounding countryside. The population may have reached 150 around 1896 but had fallen to seventy-five by 1914. The town was designated Steiner in 1916 following the name change of the post office, in honor of Dr. J. M. Steiner, a post surgeon at Fort Graham. The estimated population of Steiner in 1925 was sixty-four; in 1939 the town consisted of about twenty residents, and only one business remained. Steiner was evacuated around 1950 because it was located in the flood area of Lake Whitney. From the 1960s through 2000 a population of twenty was reported for Steiner, however, the community was no longer shown on highway maps in 2000.

BIBLIOGRAPHY: Bosque County History Book Committee, Bosque County, Land and People (Dallas: Curtis Media, 1985). William C. Pool, Bosque Territory (Kyle, Texas: Chaparral, 1964).

Karen Yancy