Ben Bolt, TX

Ben Bolt is a Jim Wells County CDP seven miles south of Alice on U.S. 281, with a name that sounds like it wandered out of a parlor song. That is basically the story: the community was founded in 1904 and took its name from “Ben Bolt and Sweet Alice,” a popular nineteenth-century song. Ben Bolt first appeared as a CDP in the 2020 census, when it counted 1,662 residents. Most of the community is served by Ben Bolt-Palito Blanco ISD, with a small section in Alice ISD. South Texas gives the place the wide-road setting; the song gives it the memorable name.