Art, Texas
Unincorporated community in Mason County · Not an incorporated municipality
About Art
Art is an unincorporated community in Mason County, Texas, United States. According to the Handbook of Texas, the highly-dispersed community had an estimated population of 18 in 2016.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
How Art is governed
Art appears to be an unincorporated community or a census-designated place, so it may have no city government of its own — services usually come from Mason County and its elected officials. The chart below is a generic template; readers can correct it if Art does have local officials.
Form of government not yet listed.
0 of 14 positions listed. Gray dashed boxes are placeholders waiting for a name.
Residents of Art
Registered voters elect the officials below.
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Mayor
Executive
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The city's chief elected official. Presides over the executive branch, proposes the budget and represents the city.
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City Manager / Administrator
Executive
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The professional administrator who runs day-to-day operations (in some cities appointed by the council instead of the mayor).
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Police Chief
Administration & departments
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Leads the police department.
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Fire Chief
Administration & departments
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Leads the fire and emergency services department.
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Public Works Director
Administration & departments
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Streets, water, sewer, and city buildings.
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Finance Director
Administration & departments
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The budget, taxes, and city accounts.
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Planning & Zoning Director
Administration & departments
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Land use, zoning, building permits.
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Parks & Recreation Director
Administration & departments
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Parks, programs, and public facilities.
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City Council
Legislative
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The elected body that passes ordinances, sets the tax rate and approves the budget.
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City Clerk
Administration & departments
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Keeps the official records, runs meeting agendas and, often, local elections.
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City Attorney
Administration & departments
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The city's lawyer; advises officials and prosecutes ordinance violations.
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Boards & Commissions
Legislative
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Citizen advisory bodies, such as planning, zoning appeals and library boards.
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Municipal Court
Judicial
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Hears traffic, ordinance and other minor cases.
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Municipal Judge
Judicial
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Presides over the municipal court.
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History
As one of the first settlements in Mason County, the community was initially settled around 1856, when five German families set up homesteads along Upper Willow Creek. They were followed by German settlers from nearby Fredericksburg, who established themselves along Willow Creek for about ten miles in both directions. Originally called Willow Creek (or Upper Willow Creek), the community suffered numerous Indian raids, although nearby Fort Mason offered some protection. A log Methodist church building that doubled as a schoolhouse was built in 1858. That building was replaced by a stone structure in 1875. In 1883, J.A. Hoerster opened one of the first general stores in the community. In 1886, Otto Plehwe purchased the store from Hoerster. Plehwe established a post office in the store soon after and served as its first postmaster. At that time, Plehwe renamed the community Plehweville, but the post office department requested a name change as its difficult spelling caused mail to be lost. On December 23, 1920, Eli Dechart had taken over as store owner and postmaster and decided to rename the town Art after the last three letters of his name.
Throughout its history, Art has remained a small, primarily ranching community. From 1925 to the mid-1960s, the population remained steady at around 25 before experiencing a brief increase to 46 in the late 1960s. The population continued to decline during the latter half of the twentieth century.
Today, Art exists as a widely dispersed community. Despite its size, Art continues to have a functioning post office (zip code: 76820).
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.