In this Texas game, I will start off with a Texas town and some interesting facts about that town. Next person posts the name of a town beginning with the last letter of the previous town. You can use this link to find a town http://www.texasescapes.com/Texas-Towns-A-to-Z.htm You can use the info they provide and/or add your own info. Just include some info with each town, so we can learn more about our state.
Example:
Red Oak
next: Kerrville
next: Euless
and so on.....
Try not to repeat any, and we'll see how far we get with no repeats. Also, we've already learned that there are no towns in Texas that start with x, so if the previous town ends with x just refer to the town before the last.
I'll start.
EVANT, TEXAS
Coryell County, North Central Texas
US. 84 and 281
25 miles W of Gatesville
25 miles E of Goldthwaite
16 miles S of Hamilton
30 miles N of Lampasas
Population 393
Has one gas station and one small grocery store. That's it.
This message was edited Jan 24, 2008 11:44 AM
Texas Towns We All Know and Love
I'm surprised you didn't start with Waxahachie!
TUXEDO, TEXAS
Jones County, Panhandle / North Central Texas
Highway 92 and FM 1661
10 miles W of Stamford
51 miles NW of Abilene
Population 42 in 1990
History in a Pecan Shell
Originally called Bonita, the town was born when the Texas Central Railroad laid tracks through Jones County in 1905. The post office was granted in 1907 and for some reason the name was changed to Tuxedo.
This message was edited Jan 24, 2008 2:18 PM
Is Tuxedo a Texas town?
Yes it is, Josephine. Just north of Abilene.
Very interesting, how about
ODESSA, TEXAS
Ector County Seat, West Texas
I-20, Hwy 385 and 302
20 miles W of Midland
60 miles W of Big Spring
Population: 90,943 (2000)
History in a Pecan Shell
The name supposedly comes from railroad workers who claimed it reminded them of the Odessa region in Ukraine. The name did spring up at the same time the Texas and Pacific tracks were set down in July of 1881. Odessa got a post office in 1885 - a year before the town was platted. It was officially organized in 1891, but they didn't get around to incorporating until 1927.
The population was only 750 in 1925, but after oil was discovered in 1926, the population shot up to 5,000 by 1929. During WWII the increased need for oil swelled the population to 10,000.
This message was edited Jan 24, 2008 12:19 PM
Alma
Population (year 2000): 302. Estimated population in July 2006: 318 (+5.3% change)
I cannot find any other informaiton.
This message was edited Jan 25, 2008 12:58 PM
Austin
NACOGDOCHES, TEXAS
Home to Stephen F. Austin State University
Nacogdoches County Seat, East Texas
US 59, Hwy 7 and 21
66 miles S of Longview
92 miles S of Jefferson
20 miles N of Lufkin
100 miles N of Beaumont
139 miles NE of Houston
159 miles SE of Dallas via I-20
50 miles W of the Sabine River
Population: 29,914
This message was edited Jan 24, 2008 12:04 PM
(Nacogdoches)
San Antonio
OXFORD, TEXAS
AKA "Cat Town", a Texas Ghost Town
Llano County, Texas Hill Country
Hwy 16, 15 miles South of Llano
Population: 0
History in a Pecan Shell
The area was first settled in the mid-1850s and was home to the Bedford Academy, which received students from anywhere within riding distance.
A.J. Johnson laid out the town of Oxford around 1880, naming it for his hometown in Mississippi. A post office was opened that same year and the town was surveyed.
The cemetery was built in 1881 and a sign marks the date the way some businesses do:
Oxford Cemetery
"Since 1881"
The town prospered for a short time - attaining a population of around 300 by the mid-1890s. The jobs in and around Llano along with improved roads drained the population.
Since there's nothing left of a town center - our photos for Oxford feature only the cemetery.
The Moss Family who had substantial land holdings in southern Llano County are interred here, as is the town's founder - the previously mentioned A. J. Johnson.
Oxford has never been written about without mentioning its nickname of Cat Town. This name is derived from an incident where a cat was thrown into a large pot of coffee at a dance. (It must be remembered that entertainment was hard to come by in the 19th century.)
The cat may have cursed the town for Oxford started its decline before it even reached a high point. By the early 1900s it lost population and the post office closed in 1924
This message was edited Jan 24, 2008 2:22 PM
This message was edited Jan 24, 2008 2:22 PM
Dime Box is in Lee County near Giddings. Began when Joseph Brown built a saw mill around 1869. The town known as Brown's Mill was confused with Brownsville so the name was changed to Dime Box. This name came from people putting a dime in a box in Brown's store to mail a letter that had to go to Giddings for mailing. In the 40's, CBS started a March of Dimes march from this community.
This message was edited Jan 25, 2008 2:46 PM
Uh, oh . . . do we need a "wild card"?
Oh, great! Is there no town in Texas that starts with X?
Not that I can find anywhere!
I looked and didn't find one.
It just dawned on me that if along with name of the town we include some information about it we could learn a lot about our beloved Texas.
So since X doesn't work I will start with the previous word ending in D.
DALLAS, TEXAS
Dallas County, Central Texas North
I-20, I-30, I-35E, I-45
Hwys 75, 77, 80 & 175
30 E of Fort Worth
238 N of Houston
192 N of Austin
271 N of San Antonio
617 E of El Paso
Population: 1,188,580 (2000)
Dallas History -
"Dallas is on the Trinity River in the center of Dallas County in North Central Texas. ... The city was founded by John Neely Bryan, who settled on the east bank of the Trinity near a natural ford in November 1841." - From Handbook of Texas Online
This message was edited Jan 24, 2008 7:01 PM
O.K. guys, here is the link to the site I got the info from
http://www.texasescapes.com/Texas-Towns-A-to-Z.htm
You can go there and get the info for the town you put in.
This is going to be great and very educational.
Josephine.
STAR, TEXAS
Mills County, Texas Hill Country
Highway 84
Farm Road 1047
Near the Hamilton county line
North of Lampasas near Goldthwaite
Population: 85
My uncles ranch is located there, and my grandparents used to live there. I spent many a summer up there roaming that land.
T.J. you might want to put the link to the info site on your first post, so people can find it.
This is great so much to learn!
Josephine.
ROCK CRUSHER, TEXAS
Coleman County, Texas Hill Country / Panhandle
8 miles NW of Coleman
Population: 0
History in a Pecan Shell
Near the Bachelor Prong of Hords Creek, the railroad had built a large steam-driven roller-type rock crusher for creating roadbed material.
A post office was open from 1912 to 1914, when the town had two stores. The town reached its population peak about this time with 400 persons, most of them employed moving, crushing and hauling away rock.
In 1916, three schools combined to comprise the Rock Crusher school district.
In the 1920s and 1930s Coleman county roads were supplied with gravel from the crusher.
During the Depression, the town was down to 150 inhabitants. The crusher was removed and the large hole which was left became a small lake.
The town was deserted by the 1960s and the lake was filled with silt.
This message was edited Jan 24, 2008 2:24 PM
I posted our new info and the link in the opening thread. Thanks Josephine!
I love this, we are learning and having fun.
RAINBOW, TEXAS
Somervell County, North Central Texas
Farm Road 200
4 miles NE of Glen Rose
WAXAHACHIE, TEXAS
Ellis County Seat
I-35E : 30 miles S of Dallas
Hwy 287 : 42 miles SE of Fort Worth
Population: 21,426
Info on the court house:
"Three artisians were brought from Italy to hand carve the stonework. One of the sculptors became so infatuated with his landlady's daughter that he carved her face into one of the blocks in the arch of the east entrance of the courthouse. The story says that the young woman spurned the sculptor's attention and he became so angry that he carved other faces that grew progressively more ugly.
EULOGY, TEXAS
Bosque County, North Central Texas
50 miles NW of Waco
9 miles NE of Walnut Springs
Population: 45 (1990)
History in a Pecan Shell
In 1885 a store run by Charles Walker Smith applied for a post office in the name of Smithville after "Uncle" Billye Smith - a well-loved member of the community.
Smithville was already taken by a town in Bastrop County so the townspeople had to reapply under another name. It was said that since everyone "eulogized" Uncle Billye - Eulogy should be the town's name
Wow! extremely interesting.
Yorktown
Yorktown is southwest of Cuero on Hwy 72 and in addition to their own wildflower program there's a hiking/biking trail along Coletto Creek next to the Yorktown Historical Museum in the historic 1848 Eckhardt Building. Inside the museum see the piano that survived both Indianola hurricanes. On the corner of Main and Eckhardt Streets.
NADA, TEXAS
Colorado County, S Central Texas
Highway 71
About 90 miles SE of Houston
20 miles S of Columbus
3 miles S of Garwood
17 miles N of El Campo
What do I know about this town? Nada!
Too funny T.J., you are hilarious.
ALPINE , TEXAS
Brewster County Seat, West Texas
Hwys 90, 67 and 118
26 miles E of Marfa
26 miles S of Ft. Davis
22 miles W of Marathon
66 miles SW of Fort Stockton
80 miles N of Terlingua
Population: 5,786 (2000)
Osborne was the original name of the settlement in 1882. It later became Murphyville after two brothers named Murphy registered the plat in 1883. Finally in 1888 it was named Alpine.
Growth was slow, but as soon as the townspeople realized that no one had built roads connecting Alpine to the rest of the world - things started happening. In 1921 they opened Sul Ross State Normal College which later became Sul Ross State University.
The town incorporated in 1929.
In 1940 the government opened Big Bend National Park and Alpine naturally became a popular entry point. There's no doubt that the University has played a large part in Alpine's growth.
The goodly number of students (or what passes for a goodly number in West Texas) at Sul Ross State University makes Alpine the host to the only fast food franchise west of Del Rio and South of Pecos.
Someone has arranged rocks on hills near the campus - to help further identify the town. Normally one has to travel to a military installation to see such a display.
And I might add, a welcome and cool sight when doing Geology College Field Camp after being in Big Bend for 8 weeks in July and Aug--personal note there
This message was edited Jan 24, 2008 3:25 PM
Hmm, I seem good at finding the ghost towns!
EXILE, TEXAS
Uvalde-Edwards county line vicinity,TExas Hill Country
16-18 miles NW of Uvalde
Near the junction of Mare Creek and the Dry Frio River
Population: 0
History in a Cedar Shingle
An Exile post office was in operation in 1890 on the ranch of W. C. Lee. Lee was the postmaster of the town that was jokingly named for its isolation and distance from civilization.
In 1896 the combination church-school had an enrollment of fifty-six students with one teacher. The church moved south to the Heard community school where it was known as the Dry Frio Baptist Church.
The town was reportedly abandoned in the mid-1940s. No cemetery or location is shown on TXDoT maps.
EAGLE PASS, TEXAS
Maverick County Seat, South Texas
Hwy 277, 57 and FM 1021
140 miles SW of San Antonio via Hwy 90
Population: 22,413 (2000)
History on a Pecan shell
Names:
The name Eagle Pass was named after migrating eagles or one particular eagle that flew to and from its nest while the military was deciding what to name their first camp. The town was predated by this camp which was two miles downstream from what became Fort Duncan.
Maverick County was named after Samuel Maverick, signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence, legislator and the man whose name became a synonymous with unbranded calves.
SWEARINGEN, TEXAS
Texas Ghost Town
Cottle County, Texas Panhandle
FM 104
14 miles NE of Paducah
S of Childress
History in a Pecan Shell
Named for ranch owner D. D. Swearingen, the town come into being around 1908 as headquarters for the OX Ranch.
A post office went into operation in 1898 and the postmaster George W. Hare bought most of the lots put up for sale. He then established a drugstore, figuring to capture the Ranch trade. His plan paid off and both Hare and the town prospered.
By 1911 Swearingen had the post office, a bank, a livery, a hardware store, a lumberyard, several stores and a hotel. A school shared space with a church until a separate schoolhouse could be built (1913). That year was a busy one for the town. It became a shipping point on the new Quanah, Acme and Pacific Railroad and suffered two considerable fires.
The OX Ranch desolved in 1930 and the town declined in kind. By 1940 there was only one business to serve the remaining 115 people who lived there.
The post office closed in 1954 and by 1970 only a few houses remained.
A cemetery remains and is shown on detailed county maps, although it appears with no name.
OK, had to jump in with:
Nevada, Texas.
Far southeast Collin County.
FM 6
Founded after the civil war and named for Nevada, Missouri. Was a thriving town along a railroad line, with a town square including a general store and hotel. Downtown area and most houses were destroyed when a killer tornado hit in the middle of the night in 1927. The old stone Baptist church was not damaged and served as a temporary morgue. The church still stands today. Most people were not insured and the town never regained its popularity. Current population approximately 450.
I am loving reading all of these!
Me too.
Those of you who didn't have the town links at first, will you please go and add those in by editing your post? It would be nice to have all of them.
Josephine.
Milford is an incorporated place located in Ellis County at latitude 32.125 and longitude -96.945. The elevation is 617 feet.
Milford had a population of 685 with 311 housing units; a land area land area of 1.83 sq. miles.
http://texas.hometownlocator.com/TX/Ellis/Milford.cfm#maps
In 1891, my paternal G-GF James Higgins James and G-GM Nancy settled near there with their family.
This message was edited Jan 24, 2008 3:13 PM
DING DONG, TEXAS
Bell County, North Central Texas
On the Lampasas River
FM 195
8 miles S of Killeen via FM 195
20 miles W of Salado via FM 2484
58 miles N of Austin
Population: 22
Name of This Town Rings A Bell
Just because Ding Dong is in Bell County doesn't mean those two facts have anything to do with each other. If you think it does you're either half-right or half-wrong, depending on your disposition.
Ding Dong was named for a Bell all right, but not Peter Hansborough Bell, the third governor of Texas and the man for whom Bell County is named. Nor is it named for the "Ding Dong Daddy of Dumas" or the junk food of the same name. The Wicked Witch did not die there. Ask not for whom the bell ding dongs . . .
According to historical accounts, the Bells in question were Zulis Bell and his nephew Bert Bell. In the early 1930s the two Bells bought and ran a country store on the Lampasas River about midway between Killeen and Florence, at a place then known as McBryde Crossing.
The Bells hired a talented sign painter by the name of C.C. Hoover to paint the sign for their new store. But Hoover was no mere sign painter. He had done some fine oil paintings and could draw as well as letter. Fred Foster at Stokes-Blair Hardware Company in Florence knew of Hoover's talent so when the young man showed up at Foster's store to buy paint for the job, Foster advised him to put his creative talents to use.
"Why don't you do something original with this sign," he suggested to Hoover. "How about drawing two Bells with the name Zulis in one and Bert in the other. Then print 'Ding Dong' on the sign." In this manner manner, the deed was done. The little community around the store took on the name of Ding Dong, and there you have it.
GALVESTON Oh Galveston! (sorry one of my mom's fav songs when I was a kid--one of those songs you wish you could get out of your head but can't)
Galveston County Seat, Texas Gulf Coast
Hwy 45 and State 87
From Houston, Hwy 45 South 50 miles
309 miles from Dallas
Population: 57,247 (2000)
It is difficult to come up with an abbreviated version of Galveston's fascinating history. It has loomed large on the pages of Texas History and has even taken center stage for events of national interest. From the time when Jean Lafitte called it Campeche to its use as the homeport for the Texas Navy, involvement in the Civil War, the Great Storm, its gambling heyday and WWII involvement - Galveston has kept an interesting diary. Galveston is also one of the rarest of American cities - one that was once on the ropes economically and came back a champion. Galveston's architecture alone has been the subject of many books.
A very simplified time-line of events
1528: Cabeza de Vaca is shipwrecked nearby
1685: LaSalle visits
1815: Jean Lafitte settles here and builds his combination house/fort Maison Rouge
1836: becomes homeport for the Texas Navy
1839: Galveston is incorporated
1850s: Stagecoach service established to Freeport
1860s: Site of several battles during the Civil War - several sunken vessels remain in the channel.
1897: Ft. Crockett established.
1900: The great storm - One of America's worst natural disasters. No exact figures are known, but the death number has been given as well over 5,000.
This message was edited Jan 24, 2008 3:33 PM
Texas Ghost Town
NAMELESS, TEXAS
Travis County, Texas Hill Country
Just off Farm Road 1431 on Nameless Road
3 miles W of Jonestown
5 miles NE of Lago Vista
30 miles NW of Austin
Population: 0
History in a Pecan Shell
Settled in 1869, the citizens of the fledgling committee ran up against the postal authorities in Washington. No one recalls what names were submitted, but they were rejected six times. The expressed their frustration by writing back (which may have been just what the buereaucrats wanted) "Let the post office be nameless and be !"
The postal authorities had a laugh - and then granted their wish. The post office was registered as Nameless, Texas in 1880. The community had fifty people, two churches, a store and school in the mid-1850s.
The town sent out cotton and cedar posts - and imported groceries. Sadly, the post office with the unique name was forced to close - and mail for the dwindling residents started coming through Leander. The town is mainly remembered by Nameless Road and the Nameless Cemetery - shown on detailed maps of the area.
This message was edited Jan 24, 2008 3:40 PM