City of Gustine History
Gustine is located in southeastern Comanche County; it was settled about 1873 by H.H. Blankenship and M.B. Odell. The first settlement was called Old Evergreen which is approximately three-quarters of a mile northeast of the present site.
In the 1890s the town was moved to its present site to take advantage of a newly opened road between Comanche and Hamilton.
The Gustine City Limits is made up of four historical surveys at a location near the intersection of Main Street and Leon Street. The corner of what is known as the methodist church lot.
The four surveys are:
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Southwest is the F.W.T. Harrison Survey
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Northwest is the Ira A. Harris Survey
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Southeast is the Whitfield Chalk Survey
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Northeast is the Christopher H. Clark Survey
It is a known fact that the Christopher H. Clark Survey was a land grant given to him in September 1846 from the State of Texas for his service at the battle of Bexar in December 1835. Abstracts from the Ira A. Harris Survey show that it was also a land grant given to Mr. Harris in 1846. It is supposed that these four men were all soldiers of the Texas Revolution.
Gustine’s population was 900 in 1914. In 1940 its population was only 409 where it remained through the mid-1960s. There was a decline in population to its lowest point of 324 in 1980. From the mid-1980s through 2019 it again remained in the 400s. The population from the most recent census of 2020 lists a population of 392.
Gustine is an agricultural community with an economy based on cattle, horses, goats, sheep, grain, pecans and fruit.