Editing Nixon, Texas (section)

==History==
The history of Nixon is defined by the dissolution and struggle of some of its major institutions.

===Old Nixon===
[[File:Fannie Andrews Nixon, mother of P. I. Nixon, ca. 1879, while serving as a school teacher.jpg|thumb|upright|Fannie Andrews Nixon, wife of Old Nixon, Texas founder, Robert Thomas Nixon (1879); one of the first schoolteachers of the area]]

In 1852, Robert T. Nixon at the northern Gonzales—[[Guadalupe County, Texas|Guadalupe County]] line founded the original settlement of Nixon, now known as the [[ghost town]] "Old Nixon;" a former 14,000 acre plantation between [[Belmont, Texas|Belmont]]-[[Luling, Texas|Luling]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Nixon Photographs & Biographical Materials |url=https://library.uthscsa.edu/2013/10/p-i-pat-ireland-nixon-photographs-biographical-materials/ |website=UT Health San Antonio |publisher=UT Health Science Center Library |access-date=14 May 2020}}</ref>

The Old Nixon facility, despite being fenced at 14,000 acres at its precipice, began at an original capitalization of $800 for 400 acres of land; with no original "free land" grants of early Texas. During [[Juneteenth]] 1865, the plantation was not affected by the abolishment of slavery, as the plantation had no slaves. Cattle and horse-breeding were the primary occupations of this enterprise, the latter being featured in The [[Quarter Horse]] journal of July 1947; featuring the early 1900s, when the Old Nixon plantation under Dr. J.W. Nixon, hosted the first "Joe Bailey" Quarter Horse, a foremost founding sire of the breed.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Bateman |first1=Ed |title=Nixon Horse In Many Top Quarter Pedigrees |journal=The Quarter Horse |date=July 1947 |volume=2 |issue=4 |page=0 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Gonzales Joe Bailey moved to park |date=October 25, 2006 |url=http://www.gonzalesinquirer.com/stories/gonzales-joe-bailey-moved-to-park,17788 |publisher=The Gonzales Inquirer |access-date=26 July 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Nixon M.D. |first1=Pat |title=The Early Nixons of Texas |date=1956 |publisher=Carl Hertzog, El Paso, Texas |location=University of Wisconsin |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=wu.89082553272&view=1up&seq=11}}</ref>

In 1899, Old Nixon at Guadalupe County had a cotton gin (Nixon-family owned), two schools, a church, a blacksmith, several residences; alongside "Wagner's Store" and "Nixon and Stephens: Dealers in Dry Goods, Notions, Fine Groceries and General Merchandise." The latter was owned by W.H. Stephens and Sam Nixon. Robert T. Nixon's brother John T. Nixon lived at Rancho near what is now northern Nixon in southern [[Gonzales County]]. The name of Nixon was later taken from the former town and applied to the new town formed on John T. Nixon's land.

The only remaining establishment of the original Old Nixon settlement is its cemetery.<ref name="OldNixon">{{cite web |last1=Bond |first1=Mary |title=First Old Nixon settler arrived in 1852 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/16492771/first-old-nixon-texas-settler-1852/ |publisher=The Seguin Gazette-Enterprise |access-date=14 May 2020 |date=1982}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Nixon M.D. |first1=Pat |title=The Early Nixons of Texas |date=1956 |publisher=Herzog |location=El Paso}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Limmer |first1=Jessica |title=Nixon became 'Old' with birth of nearby town by same name |url=http://seguingazette.com/news/article_63bb9d88-8818-11e1-aa20-0019bb2963f4.html |website=The Seguin Gazette |date=April 17, 2012 |access-date=14 May 2020 |quote=Nixon — later known as Old Nixon — was founded by Robert Nixon, who in 1852 settled in far eastern Guadalupe County between Belmont and Luling...Robert was known to host Methodist circuit preachers at his home, who would then minister to the community during their stay..."When there wasn't a circuit preacher visiting, they would have to get up before dawn to get to church in Belmont,"...The railroad...pulled Old Nixon residents to Luling...}}</ref>

====Rancho-Nixon====

While Old Nixon was being founded, the settlement of Rancho grew at the northern boundary of present-Nixon and the country store of Paul Murray, on land he purchased in 1849. His store was located at the intersection of roads that led to the important settlements of [[San Antonio]], [[Gonzales, Texas|Gonzales]], [[Seguin, Texas|Seguin]], [[Cuero, Texas|Cuero]], [[Goliad, Texas|Goliad]] and [[Indianola, Texas|Indianola]]. Murray had come to Texas from [[Mississippi]] and was soon followed by many of his Mississippi neighbors. They came in search of farm land, but soon abandoned the plow to adopt the cowboy culture of the area, as unbranded range cattle were everywhere and free for the taking.

The name "Rancho" was the first name given to the developing Nixon settlement as a ranching culture developed. Some of the earliest open range branding codes in Texas originated here in 1866, as local stockmen were gathering cattle herds to be driven to northern markets by Rancho cowboys. These codes facilitated the system of marking and tracking the cattle that mingled together in open, unfenced ranges. A post office was officially established in 1855, and Rancho grew to have several businesses, as well as a school and two churches.

Rancho began a rapid decline in population when the [[Galveston, Harrisburg and San Antonio Railroad]] bypassed the town in 1906, and many residents relocated to the new railroad town of Nixon, two miles to the south. The post office closed in 1911, and by that time, many of Rancho's buildings had been moved to Nixon and most of Rancho's residents had relocated to the new town. Although virtually no visible evidence of the town of Rancho remains, the town's short existence stands as a reminder of the hundreds of similar towns that fell prey to the railroads that crossed Texas during the late 19th century.<ref>{{cite web |title=Rancho - Texas Historical Markers |url=https://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WMGDC0_Rancho |publisher=The State of Texas |access-date=24 May 2020}}{{PD-notice}}</ref>

====Union-Nixon====

Near the [[Wilson County, Texas|Wilson County]]—portion of Nixon, the town of [[Union, Texas (Wilson County)|Union]] or "Union Valley" had its postal services moved to Nixon in 1915. Settled before the [[American Civil War]], the town had a population as high as 300 and several stores before its general consolidation into the Nixon community alongside [[List of Farm to Market Roads in Texas (1600–1699)#FM 1681|FM 1681]].

In 1947, the Union area had a nominal population of 50, with 22 reported in 1990 through 2000.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Hazlewood |first1=Claudia |title=UNION, TX (WILSON COUNTY) |url=https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hnu03 |website=Texas State Historical Association |access-date=4 June 2020}}</ref>

===Urban Nixon===
[[File:Texas - Mission through Nixon - NARA - 68149610 (cropped).jpg|thumb|right|Nixon in 1926]]
Nixon as an urban development began in 1869, at the site of its First Baptist Church within its 100-block grid on Texas Avenue, near Wilson County. The [[San Antonio]] Baptist Association established a local mission here under Reverend T. Christmas and Reverend J.F. Hines.

The congregation had established a sanctuary one-mile north in Rancho, and consolidated it into the Nixon congregation upon the city's incorporation in 1907. In 1921, they began to partner with the congregation in [[Leakey, Texas]], west of San Antonio.

The Nixon First Baptist Church is considered an original cultural founder of the community.<ref>{{cite book |title=First Baptist Church of Nixon |publisher=Texas Historical Commission}}</ref>

====Nixon News====
In the early 20th century, Nixon had a local newspaper titled ''Nixon News''. It was forced to cease publication in September 1921. The editor cited reasons ranging from a lack of advertisement in the paper, lack of support from local businesses and apathy from the general community. ''The Daily Advocate'' newspaper of Victoria, Texas, during this period, suggested that the downscaling of another significant Texan paper was a related trend.<ref>[https://img.newspapers.com/clip/22356468/daily_advocate/ Nixon News is Forced to Quit Its Publication]; text: "We have on our desk the final copy of the Nixon News, edited and owned by Riley Webb at Nixon, Texas. Editor Webb gives as his reason for suspending publication "the lack of advertising and support from the business men and the indifference shown toward the paper by the citizenship as a whole." Within the last few days we have also learned of the changing of one of the larger daily newspapers of the State, published in what is considered one of the best towns in the state, to a weekly publication. More than likely the same reasons prompted the owner of the big daily as prompted Riley Webb of the News..."</ref>

The trade-name of the paper returned as early as 1980 through 1986, serving as an executive over three annual city festivals; celebrating Nixon's overall production of a broad-range of poultry products and byproducts, purportedly the highest in the State of Texas at that time. At present Nixon News is, again, no longer published but was considered award-winning in "Community Service" by the Texas Press Association in 1980.<ref>{{cite news |title=The History of Nixon Feather Fest |url=https://i.imgur.com/VYrNKbh.jpg |access-date=25 June 2020 |publisher=Gonzales County, Texas Archives |date=August 30, 1986}}</ref>

Through 2013 until 2017, the trade-named resumed its most recent operation as an online newspaper titled “The Nixon News” with publications on local politics. This third-iteration of the publication is no longer published as well.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Nixon News |url=http://www.thenixonnews.com/ |publisher= |access-date=22 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130915115205/http://www.thenixonnews.com/ |archive-date=15 September 2013 |url-status=live}}</ref>

====Nixon intersection====
Since approximately 2015, the Nixon intersection of [[U.S. Highway 87]] and [[Texas State Highway 80]] has been marked by the [[Texas Department of Transportation]] having to hire and replace multiple contractors, after continual delay to install traffic signals over three-and-a-half years; an installation that would normally be a "routine upgrade." The Nixon City Manager hypothesized the delays began with a first contractor "not working in a timely manner." After a first contractor, time was consumed by an initial six-month delay, another set of construction bids and years of replacement of prior work.<ref>[http://gonzalesinquirer.com/stories/nixon-intersection-lights-finally-live,26489 ''Lights Finally Live!'']; text: "After years of delays, the traffic signal at the intersection of U.S. Highway 87 and State Highway 80 in Nixon is finally live and operational. What should have been a routine two-step upgrade, ended up taking around three and a half years to complete and featured multiple contractors..."</ref>

====COVID-19====
In late March 2020, the first confirmed case of [[COVID-19]] in [[Gonzales County]] was discovered in Nixon.<ref>[http://gonzalesinquirer.com/stories/confirmed-covid-19-case-identified-in-gonzales-county,27448 ''Confirmed CoVid-19 Case Identified in Gonzales County'']; text: "Gonzales County is reporting its first confirmed case of COVID-19 in the Nixon area. Communications have been ongoing between county and city officials, the local healthcare facility and Gonzales County Emergency Management since the report was confirmed. These local leaders are working closely with the Texas Department of State Health Services while they determine who the person has been in contact with over the last 14 days, so those persons may be isolated and monitored for symptoms...."</ref>