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{{Use American English|date=June 2025}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2023}}
{{Infobox settlement
|name = Cat Spring
|official_name =
|settlement_type = [[Unincorporated area|Unincorporated community]]
|nickname =
|motto =


|image_skyline = Cat Spring TX Antiques.jpg
|imagesize =
|image_caption =
|image_flag =
|image_seal =


||pushpin_map = Texas#USA
|pushpin_label_position = bottom
|pushpin_map_caption = Location within the state of Texas
|pushpin_mapsize =
|image_map =
|map_caption = Location within Austin county
|image_map1 =
|mapsize1 =
|map_caption1 =


|subdivision_type = [[List of sovereign states|Country]]
|subdivision_name = United States
|subdivision_type1 = [[U.S. state|State]]
|subdivision_name1 = [[Texas]]
|subdivision_type2 = [[List of counties in Texas|County]]
|subdivision_name2 = [[Austin County, Texas|Austin]]

|government_footnotes =
|government_type =
|leader_title = 
|leader_name =
|leader_title1 =
|leader_name1 =
|established_title =
|established_date =


|unit_pref = Imperial
|area_footnotes =
|area_magnitude =
|area_total_km2 =
|area_land_km2 =
|area_water_km2 =


|population_as_of = [[United States Census, 2000|2000]]
|population_footnotes =
|population_total =
|population_density_km2 = auto


|timezone = [[Central Time Zone (Americas)|Central (CST)]]
|utc_offset = -6
|timezone_DST = CDT
|utc_offset_DST = -5
|elevation_footnotes =
|elevation_ft = 308
|coordinates = {{coord|29|50|44|N|96|19|33|W|region:US_type:city|display=inline,title}}


|postal_code_type = [[ZIP code]]s
|postal_code = 78933
|area_code =
|blank_name = [[Federal Information Processing Standard|FIPS code]]
|blank_info =
|blank1_name = [[Geographic Names Information System|GNIS]] feature ID
|blank1_info = 1332320
|website =
|footnotes =
}}

'''Cat Spring''' is an [[unincorporated area|unincorporated community]] in southern [[Austin County, Texas|Austin County]], [[Texas]], United States.<ref>{{gnis|1332320}}</ref> According to the [[Handbook of Texas]], it had a population of 76 in 2000. Cat Spring was one of the first German/American settlements in Texas, and the location of Texas' first agricultural society.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://catspringtexas.net/aboutCatSpring.htm | title=All about Cat Spring, Texas }}</ref>

==History==
Cat Spring was founded by immigrants from [[Grand Duchy of Oldenburg|Oldenburg]] and [[Westphalia]] that was led by Ludwig Anton Siegmund von Roeder and [[Robert J. Kleberg]] in 1834, in which many of them were attracted to the area and the state by letters sent from Friedrich Ernst after he bought a plot of land in the Mill Creek Valley in 1831 and named for a nearby [[spring (hydrosphere)|spring]] near the [[San Bernard River]] where a [[cougar|puma]] was killed by one of the German immigrants. The first [[protestantism|Protestant church]] was organized in the community sometime between 1840-and 1844 by Louis C. Ervendberg. The community was the location of Texas' first agricultural society (Cat Spring Agricultural Society) in 1856. A post office was established at Cat Spring in 1878. It was the site of a station on the [[Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad]] that linked it to [[New Ulm, Texas|New Ulm]] to the west and [[Sealy, Texas|Sealy]] to the east, established in the 1890s. Its population was reported as 350 in 1836 and had 15 businesses. The community began to decline after [[World War II]], in which its population decreased to 200 with 9 businesses in 1950, had 76 residents and only two businesses in 1990, and grew to 13 businesses in 2000 with the same population.<ref name="Handbook">[http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hnc24 Cat Spring, Texas], [[Handbook of Texas|Handbook of Texas Online]], 2008-01-17. Accessed 2008-08-11.</ref>

Today, the community has 75 residents and has a store at the crossroads a mile north of the community, the post office, and a "tractor graveyard". Another building located just west of the crossroads is one of the few remaining buildings in the community and is used as a [[dance hall]]. It is currently used for seasonal antique shows.<ref name="Texas Escapes"/>

Although Cat Spring is unincorporated, it has a [[post office]], with the [[ZIP code]] of 78933.<ref>[http://www.zipinfo.com/cgi-local/zipsrch.exe?cnty=cnty&zip=78933 Zip Code Lookup] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110615081204/http://www.zipinfo.com/cgi-local/zipsrch.exe?cnty=cnty&zip=78933 |date=2011-06-15 }}</ref>

==Geography==
Cat Spring lies along [[Farm to Market Road 949|FM 949]] and 2187 on the [[Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad]] and the west bank of the [[San Bernard River]] in western Austin County,<ref name="Handbook"/> {{convert|10|mi|km|abbr=on}} south of the city of [[Bellville, Texas|Bellville]], the [[county seat]].<ref>Rand McNally. ''The Road Atlas '08.'' [[Chicago]]: [[Rand McNally]], 2008, pp. 100-101.</ref> It is also located {{convert|29|mi|km|abbr=on}} south of [[Brenham, Texas|Brenham]], {{convert|13|mi|km|abbr=on}} west of [[Sealy, Texas|Sealy]], {{convert|15|mi|km|abbr=on}} northeast of [[Columbus, Texas|Columbus]] and {{convert|40|mi|km|abbr=on}} northeast of [[La Grange, Texas|La Grange]].<ref name="Texas Escapes">{{cite web | url= http://www.texasescapes.com/CentralTexasTownsSouth/CatSpringTexas/CatSpringTx.htm | title= Cat Spring, Texas | publisher = Texas Escapes Online Magazine | date= | accessdate = 2022-01-18}}</ref>

==Radio stations==
* [[KLOT-LP]], part of [[107.7 FM]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/fmq?call=KLOT-LP |title=KLOT-LP Facility Record |work=United States [[Federal Communications Commission]], audio division }}</ref>

==Education==
Cat Spring is served by the [[Sealy Independent School District]].

==Notable person==
* [[Rudolph Kleberg]], [[United States House of Representatives|U.S. Representative]] of Texas.

==Gallery==
<gallery widths="200px" heights="150px" >
File:Cat Spring TX Lutheran Church.jpg|St. John Lutheran Church is at 480 Ross Street.
File:Cat Spring TX VFD.jpg|Cat Spring Volunteer Fire Department on FM 949.
File:Cat Spring TX Post Office.jpg|US Post Office is on Front Street, north of the railroad.
</gallery>

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{commons category|Cat Spring, Texas}}
{{Austin County, Texas}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:Unincorporated communities in Austin County, Texas]]
[[Category:Unincorporated communities in Texas]]
[[Category:German-American culture in Texas]]

Cat Spring, Texas - Revision history

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