Biohazard Cleanup Near West Austwell Austwell, TX

Austwell is a small coastal city in northeastern Refugio County, Texas, sitting on a natural bluff overlooking Hynes Bay, an extension of the San Antonio Bay system.

Austwell was founded by businessman Preston R. Austin in 1911 and platted in 1912, and its name blends the first syllable of 'Austin' with the last syllable of his partner Jesse C. McDowell's name.

Austwell was incorporated by an election held on September 10, 1914.

Austin's Refugio Land and Irrigation Company divided the surrounding land into 160-acre cotton farms sold largely to German and Bohemian settlers, and provided the town with a church, school, store, and cotton gin.

A branch line of the Missouri Pacific Railroad connected Austwell and neighboring Tivoli with Victoria when it was completed in 1912.

Austwell's population peaked in the 1930s, when each 160-acre farm typically required two families working the land with mules, before tractor mechanization shrank the town.

Austwell's population fell to 192 in 2000 and 147 in 2010, and the 2020 census counted just 118 residents in the city.

In 2010 Austwell's 147 residents lived in 71 households, and the city covers only about 0.4 square miles of land.

Austwell is known as the 'Gateway to the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge,' which lies about eight miles south of town and is an important reserve for the whooping crane.

Local students attend the Austwell-Tivoli Independent School District, a small Class 1A district shared with the neighboring town of Tivoli.