Eldridge, Texas

Eldridge is an unincorporated community in Colorado County, Texas, United States. According to the Handbook of Texas, the community had a population of 20 in 2000.

History
The community was named for William T. Eldridge, a railroad director who also held a portion of the Imperial Sugar Company's stock and served as general manager when it was situated on the "Bonus Loop" of the Cane Belt Railroad in 1898. This rail link ended in 1940. The community was also the site of Eldridge's one-time plantation house.

Eldridge sold 1140 acre of sugarcane and cotton land to the Faber Planting Company in 1905. The purchase included a gin and other storage facilities. The area was divided into 40 acre- to 60 acre blocks by the Faber Planting Company, who subsequently constructed houses for tenant farmers whose main duty was to grow sugarcane for the Eldridge refinery, which was then called Sugarland Industries. Convict labor was employed to assist the locals during harvest season. A post office was established at Eldridge in 1906 and remained in operation until 1942, when mail was rerouted to Eagle Lake. There was a general store run by the Faber company, telephone and telegraph service, and an estimated 200 people living in Eldridge in 1914. The community had a population of 100 in 1926. During the 1940s and 1950s, tenant farmers were supplanted by mechanized equipment, and the population gradually decreased, with the exception of a small number of tenants who purchased their own houses. A few of the original houses were still standing in 1986. The population in 2000 was 20.

Geography
Eldridge is located at the intersection of Farm to Market Roads 950 and 2614, between Garwood and Eagle Lake in southeastern Colorado County.

Education
Today, Eldridge is served by the Rice Consolidated Independent School District.