The Simonton Plantation The first event that shaped Simonton's history was when James Simonton and his brother Theophilus bought 4000 acres of land in northwestern Fort Bend County in the 1840s. The two Simonton brothers built a plantation next to the
Brazos River, on which they raised cotton. The year 1850 is officially designated as the founding year for Simonton, since the 1850 US Census showed the two brothers, their mother, Mary, and Theophilus's wife and two sons residing on the property. Another brother, Joseph, and his family moved to the plantation in the 1850s. In 1857, Theophilus helped charter the Richmond
Masonic Hall Association, symbolizing the elite status of the Simonton family in Fort Bend County. The town of Simonton joined
Fulshear and
Pittsville as the main rural towns in northwestern Fort Bend County.
American Civil War At the onset of the
Civil War, the 1860 US Census showed that the Simontons owned one of the largest and most prosperous plantations in Fort Bend County, with a real property value at $200,000 and personal property valued at $155,000. This census also revealed that their plantation had 975 improved acres that produced 11,000 bushels of corn and 600 bales of cotton.
Post-Civil War Reconstruction The plantation was broken up and sold after the war. Tracts of land were sold to incoming settlers. The Simontons actively resisted the post-Civil War
Reconstruction efforts. During the Fort Bend
Jaybird-Woodpecker political battles during post-Civil War Reconstruction, the Simonton brothers joined the Jaybirds, a faction within the Democratic Party, who wanted to oust the Woodpeckers, primarily blacks and their white allies, from the county administration. This incident gained regional and national attention for the deep racial divisions of the
Jaybird-Woodpecker War raging throughout Fort Bend County.
End of the Pioneer Era The Simonton family's position and presence gradually dwindled after the deaths of the pioneer brothers and the influx of
European immigrants who passed through
Galveston during the late 19th and early 20th Century.Theophilus Simonton died by February 2, 1867, the date on which his will was probated. Although he had lost his slaves by the time of his death, his estate was valued at $1,311,010, a considerable sum by the standards of Reconstruction Texas. James died before June 2, 1892, when his will was probated. His estate was valued at $9,014 at that time.Their deaths accompanied by the industrial revolution that was sweeping the United States drastically altered the economic means, and thus the social and political roles, in Simonton as well as throughout Fort Bend Country. According to oral history documentation, the
Ku Klux Klan was present in Simonton from the early 20th Century, as they were in many Texas small towns, and were especially active due to the influx of foreign-born immigrants, who moved to Simonton to work as farm and ranch help for the local cattle ranches and pecan groves.
From Busy Town to Quiet Crossroads Community The next event shaping Simonton history was the advent, around 1888, of the
San Antonio and Aransas Pass Railroad. It is said the company wanted the track to run through Pittsville (near what is now Fulshear) where the terrain was more level. However, the landowners in that area refused to sell the railroad a right-of-way because they believed the trains would scare their cattle. The line was therefore laid across the hills and creeks between Fulshear and Simonton. Water was as necessary as coal for the steam-powered locomotives, and Simonton became one of the main watering stops. With the tracks, came the people. With the tracks also came the opportunity to ship the area's farm produce to other parts of the country. In subsequent years, Simonton developed into a robust agricultural community. Snap shots of this history have been noted in several oral historical accounts: •
Red Potato Farming. In 1906,
D.H. (Dave) Mullins, who came to Simonton from Kansas, began growing potatoes on a commercial scale – 150 acres that first year. Later he and J.R. Spencer, also from Kansas, working together, planted 1000 acres of red potatoes. Other farmers followed suit; and during one of the best years, 800 railroad cars of potatoes were shipped out of Simonton to places like Chicago, Kansas City, and Cincinnati. The Simonton area became one of the country's major producers of red potatoes. In subsequent years in the
Great Depression, the facility was used to host dances, suppers, elections, and church services, The school was annexed into the Lamar Consolidated ISD in 1950. Maurice and Flo Berkman (married June 24, 1956), who were members of the now defunct Jewish
synagogue in
Warton, Texas, File:Gathering potatoes in Fort Bend County, Tx LCCN2012646375.jpg|Harvesting potatoes in Fort Bend County, Tx
International VIP – Chinese Vice Premier Deng Xiaoping's 1979 Visit to the Simonton Rodeo In the months following the
Sino-US normalization, China's
Vice Premier Deng Xiaoping visited the United States for nine days in 1979, visiting Washington, Atlanta, Houston and Seattle. On February 2 during his visit to Houston, he spent an evening in Simonton at the Roundup Rodeo. In 1963 the Round Up was built on FM 1093. Also the brainchild of "Snake" Bailey, it is a large indoor rodeo arena in full swing every Saturday night, drawing people from Houston and elsewhere for a taste of the "real west." He rode in a stagecoach, and later a
barrel racer gave the premier a cowboy-style duster and a ten-gallon hat, both of which he donned and displayed before the crowd. Deng's visit to the Simonton rodeo is considered to be the tipping point in the thaw of US-China relations. The Simonton Rodeo closed by 1997 when it was bought and restored by Benchmark Wireline, an oil services company. A China Daily Global video captures the memories of this visit, including Katie Van Dries whose father Luke owned the rodeo at that time. The photographs of Deng in the cowboy hat appeared in American newspapers, displaying a distinctly human side to a previously mysterious Chinese leader. The Stetson hat is displayed in the
National Museum of China in the center of the exhibit hall which focuses on Deng. This excitement generated change Sino-American perceptions of each other, as exemplified in a Chinese Foreign Ministry video "The Cowboy-Hat and "Deng Whirlwind — The First Visit to the United States by a Leader of New China."
City Incorporated In 1979, the community incorporated as the City of Simonton. The population grew to 603 in 1980 and 718 in 2000. In 2010 the population was 814. ==Geography==