China, Texas, that is, about 10 miles west of Beaumont. That China was first called China Grove because of a grove of China Berry trees near the Texas and New Orleans Railroad stop. In 1906, after a fire destroyed China Grove, the railroad moved its station to nearby Nashland. The railroad wanted the station to continue the name China, and so it was.
The present-day China Grove,
made famous by the Doobie Bros. in 1973, is in Bexar County, just outside San
Antonio. Another China Grove is an unincorporated community in Brazoria County,
near Rosharon, which is named after the Cherokee Rose, and not from the
biblical Rose of Sharon from Song of Songs, in which the speaker says, “I am
the rose of Sharon, a rose of the valley.” In Grapes of Wrath, Tom Joad’s sister is named Rose of Sharon, but
called Rosasharn.
Rice was the principal crop grown around China. Oil was discovered in 1939. The 2010 census showed China’s population at 1,160. The 2019 estimated population was 1,206.
Wikipedia says few China Berry trees remain in China.
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