Dinsmore, Texas

Dinsmore was established as an African American community by E.W. Roberts. It is located on John Dinsmore's league of land. The plat was established in 1913 and was originally named Roberts, but the settlers called it Dinsmore. It comprised 38 blocks; nine avenues ran east to west while six streets ran north to south and were named for locals. They were small and cheap and gave the descendants of former slaves somewhere to build a home. These settlers worked as tenant farmers and sharecroppers. They also hired agricultural workers. It is located near Burr, which had the largest Black population in the county due to plantations along Caney Creek. The Galveston, Harrisburg and San Antonio Railway was built from Wharton to Van Vleck in 1900. This caused White people to move into the area. Roberts owned and operated a mercantile store east of Wharton's courthouse square and started selling lots to citizens in 1914. He then moved to Houston after filing bankruptcy and sold his county holdings. A smaller plat in 1920 reduced Dinsmore to three avenues, four streets, and ten blocks with 12 lots. There were 50 houses, one business, and 250 residents in the early 1990s.[2]

Dinsmore is located on Farm to Market Road 1301, 2 mi (3.2 km) east of Wharton in Wharton County.[2]

One lot in Dinsmore was saved for a school and park across the street from it, but they were never built.[2] Today, the community is served by the Wharton Independent School District.