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The town today refers to itself as Blossom Prairie, the original name of
the community.
History in a Pecan Shell
Davy
Crockett is said to have entered Texas near present Blossom. William Patton,
Crockett’s nephew crossed the Red River into Blossom Prairie in November of 1836
and a three year-old who later became Texas Ranger Ben Dragoo came to Blossom
Prairie with his family in 1838.
By 1873, The roadbed for the Texas
& Pacific Railroad was graded, but no track materialized. For three years there
was a gap between Texarkana
and Brookston. Freight was transported by wagon, to bridge the gap - passing through
Blossom. Later, a passenger and freight depot was built on Front Street.
Blossom Prairie Academy was established in 1884 at this time the town’s population
was around 1,000. The town of Blossom Prairie was incorporated on January 8, 1886
and the name was shortened to the present Blossom two years later. Lamar College
was founded in 1889.
Vice President John Nance Garner, who is usually
associated with Uvalde,
Texas once attended school in Blossom. His lifelong friendship with Sam
Rayburn was based on their common NE Texas upbringing.
Blossom was
once famous for its mineral water and wells were said to have numbered one hundred.
The only one remaining today is in Blossom’s City Park.
Professor
J. Valenza’s excellent Taking
the Waters in Texas (UT Press, 2000) includes Blossom on her map of Springs
and lists Bell’s Mineral Wells, Blossom Wells and Beauchamp Wells as three different
names in the Blossom vicinity.
Hotels opened to house the patrons
“taking the waters.” A portion of the former Burke Hotel is now a residence.
Cotton growers could have their cotton
ginned and baled at one of the two Blossom gins. There were also two brick manufacturers.
A hardware store is one of two remaining buildings in town made of Blossom Brick.
By 1903, Blossom had one bank, two in 1910, and a third in 1919.
Blossom
still has mineral water in the City Park although the hotels, bathhouse and brickyards
are now gone.
In later years Cuthand Creek was dammed to create City
Lake. (The City Administrator of Blossom in July of 2001 states that there
is no “City Lake.”)
Blossom’s population dipped down to about 650
people at one point during the Great Depression. Today many Blossomites commute
to Paris and the population is now a respectable
1,440. |
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"R.V.
Womack & Co. Store, Blossom, Texas." Early 1900s.
Photo courtesy
texasoldphotos.com
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Stores |
Blossom
AttractionsThe
Blossom Museum and Civic Center
is located at 215 Pine Street in Blossom
Directions: South of Highway
82 on Faucett Street. Go one block and turn left on Pine Street. Museum is on
the left. Hours: Fridays from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Chamber of Commerce:
None
City Offices: 903-982-5900 is the number we received from
the telephone company for the city offices in Blossom.
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Blossom,
Texas ForumSubject:
Blossom Museum
If you will go to Lamar Co TX Genweb, then scroll down to
Blossom Museum, you will find a short history of Blossom, TX. I live there, and
work at the Museum.
Blossom has lots of history, and we work to preserve
the history in our genealogy section, and museum which has small items that were
either used by Blossom residents, or happen to be items like those that Blossom
people probably used. We have information about Blossom from the time it was incorporated,
up to the present time. Our genealogy section has family files, which are furnished
by family members interested in preserving their family history and sharing it
with others. At the present we have six ladies that do volunteer work there, and
we're all very proud of what has been accomplished in just a few short years.
The museum is also a library, utilized by people that live in and around
Blossom. - Peggy Johnston, March 18, 2005
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