Abandoned Towns
Two 1852 watercolors of Indianola: a wharf, sailing ships and wooden buildings above the beach, and below, the town seen across flat marshland

River and lake town

Indianola

Texas's second port, where German immigrants and the Army's camels came ashore. Two hurricanes destroyed it, and most of the townsite now lies under Matagorda Bay.

28°30′43″N 96°29′15″W · Sea level

Photo: Thomas Flintoff, Wikimedia Commons, Public domain

Overview

The port the sea took back

Ocean Drive along Matagorda Bay, from the air about three miles northwest of the Indianola townsite, 2021
Ocean Drive along Matagorda Bay, from the air about three miles northwest of the Indianola townsite, 2021 · Photo: BrianGrunberger, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

Indianola began as a landing beach. In December 1844 Prince Carl of Solms-Braunfels chose Indian Point on Matagorda Bay as the port where the Adelsverein's German immigrants would come ashore on their way to the Hill Country. A town was laid out in 1846, renamed Indianola in 1849, and made the Calhoun County seat in 1852.

It grew into the second port in Texas. Charles Morgan's steamship line made it the terminus on Matagorda Bay, in 1856 and 1857 the Army landed camels for its experiment in desert transport, and rail service to the interior began in 1871. By 1875 about 5,000 people lived there.

That September a hurricane drove the bay over the town and killed an estimated 150 to 300 people. Indianola rebuilt on a smaller scale, and in August 1886 a second hurricane and the fire that followed nearly erased it. The county seat moved to Port Lavaca, the post office closed in 1887, and the town was declared dead. Erosion has since carried most of the townsite into the bay.

Timeline

Forty years as a port

Thomas Flintoff's 1852 watercolors: Indianola's waterfront on May 16, 1852 (top), and the town across the flats with Lavaca Point in the distance (bottom)
Thomas Flintoff's 1852 watercolors: Indianola's waterfront on May 16, 1852 (top), and the town across the flats with Lavaca Point in the distance (bottom) · Photo: Thomas Flintoff, Wikimedia Commons, Public domain
  1. Prince Carl of Solms-Braunfels picks the beach at Indian Point as the landing place for German immigrants. It is briefly called Karlshafen.
  2. Sam Addison White and William M. Cook found the port of Indian Point. Lots are surveyed and sold.
  3. A post office opens.
  4. The town is renamed Indianola.
  5. Indianola becomes the seat of Calhoun County.
  6. The town is incorporated.
  7. Two shiploads of camels land for the US Army's camel experiment.
  8. Union gunboats shell the town in October 1862. Union troops occupy it twice before leaving in 1864.
  9. The first shipment of mechanically refrigerated beef leaves for New Orleans.
  10. Rail service to the interior begins.
  11. A hurricane wrecks the town of about 5,000 people and kills an estimated 150 to 300.
  12. A second hurricane, followed by fire, almost wipes out the rebuilt town. The county seat moves to Port Lavaca.
  13. The post office closes and the town is declared dead.
  14. Indianola becomes a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark.

Record and claims

Where the sources differ

The 1875 death toll. The Handbook of Texas speaks only of great loss of life. Wikipedia gives an estimate of 150 to 300.

Storm dates. Wikipedia gives both September 15 and 16 for the first hurricane, and August 19 and 20 for the second. The Handbook uses September 16 and August 20.

Population. The Handbook gives more than 5,000 at the town's height. An undated listing gives lower census-style figures: over 1,000 by 1860, over 2,000 by 1870 and under 1,000 by 1880.

What's left

On the shore today

The Great Camel Experiment marker (2013) and a metal cutout of a soldier leading a camel, on the shore at Indianola, 2023
The Great Camel Experiment marker (2013) and a metal cutout of a soldier leading a camel, on the shore at Indianola, 2023 · Photo: 2C2K Photography, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0
A 1995 granite stone at Indianola honoring the German pioneers who traveled up the Guadalupe River in 1845
A 1995 granite stone at Indianola honoring the German pioneers who traveled up the Guadalupe River in 1845 · Photo: WhisperToMe, Wikimedia Commons, CC0

Almost nothing of the old town stands. A granite marker on the shore stands about 300 feet from the site of the 1859 courthouse, which is now in the bay. A towering granite statue of the explorer La Salle stands nearby, with a marker at its base to the Silesian immigrants who landed here. Stones and markers for the German pioneers and the Army's camel experiment stand along the shore.

An undated listing also names a cemetery and the brick remains of an original settler's dam. The 1960 USGS sheet in the historic maps below marks a monument and a cemetery near the shore, with sunken wrecks just offshore. A small fishing village lives on at the site; in 2022 Texas Monthly found the Indianola Fishing Marina to be the only business in town. For the story of the port itself, the Calhoun County Museum in Port Lavaca has an 8-foot diorama of Indianola and items from La Salle's ship, the Belle.

  • Indianola historical marker
  • La Salle statue
  • Immigration markers
  • Camel experiment marker
  • Cemetery
  • Fishing village
USGS topographic map of the Indianola shore on Matagorda Bay
USGS The National Map, topo. Indianola sits at the end of South Ocean Drive beside the mouth of Powderhorn Bayou, with Indianola Island to the northwest.
Aerial view of the Indianola shoreline and Matagorda Bay
Aerial imagery, same area. The shore road and a line of houses with piers face the bay, ending at a small harbor on the point.

Historic maps

Indianola on USGS maps, 1951–1984

Crops from the USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection, centered on the townsite. Each sheet shows what surveyors mapped that year; compare them with today's topo and aerial on this page.

USGS topographic map around Indianola, 1951
Keller Bay sheet, 1951, 1:24,000 · U.S. Geological Survey, public domain · catalog record

Day trip

Plan a day trip to Indianola from Port Lavaca

Take it with you

Day trip itinerary

The essentials, the sample day with boxes to tick, what to photograph and the coordinates, on two printable pages. Handy where there's no signal.

Download the PDF (498 KB)

Indianola makes an easy half day from Port Lavaca. Start at the Calhoun County Museum for the story of the port, then drive down to the shore to read the markers and see the La Salle statue. Services at the site are few, so plan to eat in Port Lavaca.

A sample day

  1. Visit the Calhoun County Museum in Port Lavaca.
  2. Drive to Indianola and walk between the immigration and camel markers on the shore.
  3. See the La Salle statue and the Indianola marker, and walk the shore where the town stood.
  4. Back to Port Lavaca for lunch.

What to photograph and film

  • The La Salle statue. Shoot from low down with the bay behind it.
  • The empty shore. A wide view of the water where the town stood tells the story better than any ruin.
  • The camel marker. The metal cutout of a soldier and his camel beside the marker makes a good foreground.

Map & directions

Getting there

Port Lavaca is the nearest town, about half an hour away on TX 238 and TX 316. From Houston, US 59 and TX 172 lead to Port Lavaca in about three hours. The route ends on South Ocean Drive beside the bay. An undated listing rates it 2WD.

USGS map of the Matagorda Bay shore between Port Lavaca and Indianola with the route drawn on it

Base map: USGS The National Map (public domain). Routes: OSRM on © OpenStreetMap contributors data (ODbL), computed October 2026. Times assume dry roads.

From central Port Lavaca15.3 miabout 32 min
  1. From central Port Lavaca, take South Virginia Street, then turn right on West Austin Street, TX 238.4.6 mi
  2. Continue straight on TX 316 toward the bay.9.4 mi
  3. Continue on South Ocean Drive along the shore to the Indianola marker.1.2 mi
Google Maps directionsApple MapsOpenStreetMap

Road and safety notes

  • Avoid the peak of hurricane season, mid-August to mid-October.

Photos

Indianola in photos

Visitor reports

Been to Indianola?

Been there lately? Tell the next visitor what you found: whether you could get in, the state of the road and what's still standing. Photos are welcome. We read every report before it appears here.

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Nearby

Other sites near Indianola

Straight-line distance from the townsite to other mapped sites in our Texas index.

Sources

Sources and credits

  1. ghosttowns.com, "Indianola": fact sheet fields (road, climate, best time, remains, census figures).
  2. Brownson Malsch, "Indianola, TX," Handbook of Texas, TSHA, revised July 2023: Karlshafen, founding, names, post office, county seat, camels, Civil War, refrigerated beef, rail, Charles Morgan, second port, peak population, hurricane dates, abandonment.
  3. Wikipedia, "Indianola, Texas", retrieved October 2026: Prince Carl's December 1844 choice, 1875 population and death toll, storm dates, county seat move to Port Lavaca, 1887 post office closure, granite marker and courthouse site, landmark designation, fishing village, coordinates.
  4. Texas Historical Commission, Texas Time Travel, "Indianola": La Salle statue and the Calhoun County Museum.
  5. Historical Marker Database, "Rene Robert Cavelier Sieur de la Salle", photographed November 15, 2025: the La Salle marker and monument in place on TX 316, the Silesian immigrants marker at the statue's base, nearby markers and cemetery.
  6. Pam LeBlanc, "Escape to Indianola, a True Ghost Town on Matagorda Bay," Texas Monthly, March 31, 2022: the marina as the only business in town, the walking tour of markers, cemetery and camel cutout.
  7. Calhoun County Museum, official site, October 2026: the Indianola diorama, Belle collection and Matagorda Island Lighthouse lens.
  8. NOAA National Hurricane Center, Tropical Cyclone Climatology: peak of hurricane season.
  9. Elevation: USGS 3D Elevation Program point query. Routes: OSRM on OpenStreetMap data, October 2026.

Photo and map credits