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History
in a Cotton Boll
The town was named for early settler and rancher
William Anderson Barclay. The Barclay Ranch was established on what are now corners
of Bell, Falls, and Milam counties. Barclay with two partners cleared nearly 4,000
acres of land and set up a store near present day "downtown" Barclay, Texas. The
town received its post office in 1881 and it managed to keep its doors open through
1906. After that, mail was routed through Rosebud
and Lott. |
Barclay
Cemeteries and School: In
1881 and 1886, two plots of land were donated for cemeteries. A school district
was organized in 1882. Barclay's 1890 population of 50 doubled by 1896. By 1910
Barclay had the essential businesses of a thriving town. A store, drugstore, school,
cemetery, gin, butcher, and even a molasses mill and waterworks.
The
Texas Farmers Union had a chapter conducting business prior to 1920 and by 1933
the population had declined to a mere sixty-six.
After the Great Depression
Barclayans sold bonds to finance a new four-classroom school and a teacherage.
Labor costs were paid with WPA funds. The school became a community center after
the pupils were sent to the Rosebud-Lott Independent ISD. The population in 1945
was 75 and 100 two years later. In 1964 there were 151 residents, 125 in 1970
and 72 just two years later.
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