“Somerset, Texas, founded by dreamers and risk-takers.” It sounds like the beginning of a grand adventure novel doesn’t it? Today, let’s discover more about the city of Somerset.
Somerset is a city in Bexar County. Somerset is located less than 20 miles south of Downtown San Antonio. Somerset is part of the San Antonio–New Braunfels metropolitan area. In 2020, the population was 1,756.
English-speaking European settlers arrived in the area by the early 1800s. Somerset was named for a settlement begun in 1848 in Atascosa County. Baptist families from Somerset, Kentucky, founded it. The present site was named Somerset in 1909. A. M. Pyron, Carl Kurz, and Jonas A. Kerr formed the First Townsite Company. It was on the Artesian Belt Railroad right-of-way.
In 1913, Kurz discovered oil while drilling for artesian water. An economic boom followed. The Somerset oilfield extended from Somerset to below Pleasanton. It was the largest known shallow field in the world at that time. Two oil refineries and a pipeline into San Antonio handled the high-gravity crude.
Somerset grew rapidly. The town grew from fifty residents in 1925 to 700 in 1928. It had a state bank, a ten-room hotel, and several machine and blacksmith shops. A post office opened in 1920. A nearby lignite coal mine also boosted the economy.
During the 1920s, farmers shifted from cotton to dryland fruit and vegetable farming. In 1931, the Somerset Fruit Growers Exchange building was dedicated. The town prospered from truck farming, oil, and coal. But by the mid-1930s, diminishing oil returns and the Great Depression caused a decline. In 1931, the town had twenty businesses. By 1958, there were only eight.
The Somerset Independent School District was formed in 1920. It consolidated at least five other school districts. The Somerset Police Department was created in 1972. The city was incorporated in 1973. Somerset has a mayor-council form of city government.
According to the United States Census Bureau, Somerset has a total area of 2.0 square miles. All of it is land.
As of the 2020 United States census, there were 1,756 people. There were 475 households and 353 families residing in the city.
In the early 1800s, the mission’s ranch was divided among landholders. These included the Navarro and Garza families. After Texas became a republic in 1836, land south of the Medina River was gifted to those who fought for Texas liberty. Most sold their land to those who eventually settled here.
Local families like the Herreras, Garzas, and Martinezes were joined by the Kerrs, Applewhites, and McCluskeys. Small communities grew. Some prospered, others did not. Some names remain as communities, schools, or roads. Others are “ghost towns” like Lytle and Old Somerset.
The current City of Somerset did not exist in 1908. It was farmland near Bexar. Bexar was a bustling community one mile west at Benton City and Kenney Roads. The coal mines at Kenney produced great wealth. The first Somerset community moved to Bexar. The Medina Baptist Church had relocated there in 1867. Businesses soon followed, leaving the first town of Somerset deserted.
That thriving community of Bexar, started in the 1880s. It had three general stores and three churches. The Baptist Church moved from Old Somerset. There was also St. Patrick’s Catholic Church and the Methodist Church. A cotton gin, blacksmith shop, cantinas, and dance hall thrived there. A doctor’s home and a large school rounded it out. But within 35 years, everything was lost to the Artesian Belt Railroad’s new town a mile east.
In 1908, farmers made a deal with the approaching railroad owner. They offered to pay him to stop there and take their produce to town. By 1908, the New Townsite Company began selling lots. In 1912, oil was discovered. The rapidly growing New Townsite Company was soon called the new Somerset. Nearly 500 people moved there. Hundreds of oil workers brought wealth from the Somerset Pool. At that time, it was the largest shallow field of oil in the world. The Eagle Ford Shale play boom ended by the mid-1930s. Somerset refocused on businesses and agriculture. They raised cattle and grew fruits, vegetables, and flowers.
In 1970, residents voted to incorporate the City of Somerset. They wanted to be free from San Antonio’s ETJ. The first Mayor and Aldermen were elected on April 2, 1971. The rest is modern history.
Somerset’s story is woven into the tapestry of Texas history. From Native American roots to oil booms. From farming to modern city life. The spirit of Somerset continues to thrive.