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The city of Poth is situated in the central part of Wilson County on U.S. highway 181 approximately 35 miles southeast of San Antonio, Texas. The town site lies in the central portion of what was considered the best ranching area in the world by the early Spaniards. This region is the area lying between the San Antonio and Cibolo Rivers from San Antonio south to their junction in Karnes City. It is open country with plentiful grass, adequate water and mild weather. The town site of Poth is situated within the boundaries of one of these early private ranches. In 1776, either missions of San Antonio or private citizens were using all this land for ranching and farming. The ranch was called the Rancho de San Francisco and was owned by Luis Antonio Menchaca.
The Poth community itself did not develop until after the railroad route of the San Antonio-Aransas Pass (SAAP) railroad was established. Construction of the railroad started in 1884 and was planned to generally follow the route of the La Bahia road through Bear, Wilson, and Karnes counties. However, when it was learned by Ira Lott, prompter of the railroad, that the community of Helena in Karnes County was unwilling to meet the monetary terms established by him for the railroad to pass through their town, the route was changed. This decision to change the route occurred after the railroad construction had already progressed to south of Floresville. The revised route was changed to a more southerly direction through open ranch land to the Kenedy area because of land and financial assistance from property owners along the new route. This change in direction was accomplished by a large curve in the
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