Editing Yoakum, Texas (section)

==History==
The area was sparsely settled until a townsite was laid out with the construction of the [[San Antonio and Aransas Pass Railway]] in 1887, and named for [[Benjamin F. Yoakum]], a vice president of the line. The railroad built a [[railway roundhouse|roundhouse]] and maintenance shops there, employing hundreds of workers. The town was incorporated in 1889. According to the ''Handbook of Texas Online'', "By 1896 Yoakum had a cotton mill, three cotton gins, a compress, several churches, a bank, an ice factory, specialty and general stores, two weekly newspapers and one daily, a school system with 700 pupils, and a population of 3,000. By 1914 the number of residents had reached 7,500."<ref name="Yoakum, TX">{{cite web |last1=Orozco-Vallejo |first1=Mary M. |title=Yoakum, TX |url=https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hfy01 |website=Handbook of Texas Online |publisher=Texas State Historical Association |access-date=24 January 2019}}</ref>  In the early 20th century, the Tex-Tan company, later part of the [[Tandy Corporation]], manufactured saddles, bridles, harnesses, belts, and wallets. Other industries included a dairy, a cannery, meat-packing and food-processing plants, and a metalworking shop. Beginning in 1926, tomato farming in the surrounding area became a major agricultural business, with Yoakum being known as "the tomato capital of south central Texas."<ref name="Yoakum, TX"/>