The City of Alice originated from the defunct community of Collins, which was located three miles east. Around 1880 the San Antonio and Aransas Pass Railway attempted to build a line through Collins. The townspeople did not want to sell their land to the railroad company; consequently, the railroad site was moved three miles west, and in 1883 a depot called Bandana was established at its junction with the Corpus Christi, San Diego and Rio Grande Railway. Bandana soon became a thriving cattle-shipping point, and application for a post office was made under the name Kleberg in honor of Robert Justus Kleberg. The petition was denied because a town named Kleberg already appeared on the post office list, so residents then chose the name Alice, in honor of Alice Gertrudis King Kleberg, Kleberg's wife and the daughter of Richard King. The Alice post office opened for business in 1888, and within a few years the remaining residents of Collins moved to Alice.