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History in a Pecan
Shell
Texas Revolution veteran Matthiss Mowry was the original owner
of what was to become Blue Ridge through a Republic land grant. The town itself
wasn’t established until 1876 when a post office was established. The name reportedly
coming from a topographical feature and the abundant blue flowers.
By 1877
a cotton gin, sawmill, and gristmill were in operation. The population was near
400 by 1900 and by 1915 it had reached 600.
The town was struck by a killer
tornado on October 8, 1919, taking seven lives and doing substantial damage. In
just ten years there was hardly a trace of the damage and the population was climbing
back toward its 1915 levels with 450 residents. Streets were paved and the town
had all utility infrastructure in place for 1930.
On the eve of WWII,
the population was 400 but although it fared well through the Great Depression,
the postwar years weren’t as kind. It fell into a comfortable lull of between
400-500 residents from the late 70s to the present (2000) 672. |
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