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The
Methodist Church at Carlton, now closed
Photo Coutesy Barclay
Gibson , March 2004 |
History
in a Pecan Shell
Settlement began
in 1877 with Dr. F. M. Carlton and J.M. Evans owning the land that
would soon become Carlton. The new town needed a post office and so
the one nearby the Malone gin (known as Honey Creek) was moved and
renamed after Dr. Carlton.
The town seemed to be destined for greatness due to its location on
stage and freight routes. Within a year churches and a school were
established and the town had a newspaper (the Courier). In
1907 the railroad (the Stephenville, North and South Texas)
arrived to find a population of over 150 people and three years later
the population reached its high-water mark of 750. A new newspaper
(the Citizen) replaced the defunct Courier in 1910 and hung
on until the middle of the Great Depression (1936).
A steady decline set in and by 1980 there were only 70 Cartonites.
Carlton has managed to retain its post office and the population is
estimated as 50 in 2000. |
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