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An
abandoned property in Bruceville-Eddy
Photo courtesy Justin
Parson, January 2006 |
| History in
a Pecan Shell
A Brief History of Bruceville:Bruceville
and the separate community of Eddy both became stations on the Katy Railroad (the
Missouri, Kansas and Texas) when it built through McLennan County in the early
1880s. Lucien N. Bruce became Bruceville's namesake when he donated land for the
depot. The railroad connection drew population from Mastersville, a town that
could ill afford to lose it. Soon Bruceville's population was approaching 30 -
many of them coming from the doomed town of Mastersville.
A
Bruceville school district formed in 1904. Banking in Bruceville was short-lived.
Although a bank started in 1907, a drought, forclosures and unpaid loans caused
it to close in the late 20s - even before the arrival of the Great Depression.
Bruceville had a respectable population of 500 throughout the 30s and
40s. However after WWII,
increased mobility allowed people to seek work in distant cities. The town declined
by half in the late 40s and by 1970 there was only a reported population of 25
people. Clearly something needed to be done if Bruceville was to be saved from
becoming a ghost. They found an ally in their neighboring town of Eddy - two miles
distant.
A Brief History of
Eddy: |
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A Brief
History of Eddy: Before
the Katy Railroad arrived, Eddy, Texas was Marvin, Texas. In 1883 railroad
superintendent Everett B. Eddy had the honor of replacing Marvin (whoever that
had been). Eddy was a little smaller than Bruceville - with 150
residents shortly after it was founded. Still, it was quite independent with its
own newspaper and essential businesses.
During the 1890s Eddy surpassed
the population of its neighbor by several hundred. Bruceville and Eddy's future
merger may have been fortold when, in 1928, the two communitees consolidated their
schools - a first in McLennan County. Eddy's population was just under 500 in
the 20s. By the mid-1940s the population was down to 350. With the construction
of I-35 in the early 60s, commuting to Waco
and Temple became easier.
In the 1960s the population doubled to 600. The towns incorporated as one in the
mid 1970s and the population rebounded to over 1,000 by the 1980s. Bruceville-Eddy
incorporated in the mid-1970s and the population soon increased to over 1,000
people. It has since inrcreased to 1,490. |
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