History
in a Pecan Shell
Settlement
began as early as the 1840s. Prior to the railroad’s
arrival a stop for the Waxahachie-Marshall stage line was opened here alongside
a small lake called Willow Pond. The Houston and Texas Central Railway
arrived in 1872 and in 1881 the community was granted a post office. The community’s
name is said to have been that of a local banker’s daughter.
The population of 1900 was given as 150 residents and the town seems to have peaked
in the mid 1920s when it reached 250. During WWII
it dropped to a mere 100 but leveled off at 200 until the early 1960s. By 1964
the population plummeted to only 30 and its post office closed its doors. It was
up to 117 in the late 1970s, increasing to 205 for the 1990 census and increasing
to 302 for the 2000 census. | 