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BRUCEVILLE-EDDY,
TEXAS
McLennan County,
North Central Texas
I -35
18 miles SW of Waco
7 miles E of Moody
Population: 1,490 (2000)
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An
abandoned property in Bruceville-Eddy
Photo courtesy Justin Parson, January 2006 |
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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.
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Photo
courtesy Justin Parson, January 2006 |
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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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