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History in a Pecan
Shell
The Texas and Pacific Railroad arrived here in 1881 and built
a section house. The existing community was known as Ornega, Ornego or Onega,
depending on which misspelling was favored. The welcome change was made by drawing
suggestions from a hat.
L. N. Edwards, an Alabaman Civil War veteran
is regarded as the town founder.
Edwards built the town’s first two-story
house in 1867 from lumber that was freighted in from the distant port of Jefferson,
Texas.
After a fire in 1887 burned the town’s fledgling business
district, the community rebuilt on the opposite side of the railroad tracks. The
generous Mr. Edwards donated the new lots and to help the town grow – he and his
wife produced 10 children. Giving them property as they married.
The
1920 population had reached 700 and only the boll
weevil (followed by the Great Depression) dimmed Aubrey’s bright future. Cotton
was eventually replaced by peanuts and today Aubrey has become a horse ranching
center.
The 1980 population of 948 increased little with the construction
of the Ray Roberts Dam (on the Elm Fork of the Trinity River) in 1986,
but it has become a popular weekend attraction. The 1990 population of 1,138 has
increased to the present (2000) 1,500.
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Aubrey
Texas TodayPhotos
courtesy Mike
Price, November 2007 | |
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