Runge, TX

Runge is a Karnes County town of 892 residents in the 2020 census, pronounced 'Run-Gee.' The settlement formed in 1887 near older communities called Sulphur Spring, Mineral Spring, and Hortonville, then took the name of Henry Runge, a pioneer merchant and banker. Its post office opened the same year. By 1895 Runge had a mercantile, lumberyard, livery, depot, drugstore, mill, gin, churches, and a two-story school, making it the largest town in Karnes County at the time. The name still carries its opening-era story.

State Highway 72 now runs through town, with Kenedy about nine miles southwest and Yorktown about 15 miles northeast. Runge Independent School District built a school in 1892 and still gives the town a local center. Farming, ranching, dairying, oil, and gas have all shaped the surrounding economy. Runge's story is easy to follow along the highway: a railroad-era market town that grew around trade and agriculture, then kept its school and name as the larger commercial landscape shifted.