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History in
a Pecan Shell
In 1886 the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway platted the townsite
which was just three miles north of Kingston. This was economic
revenge against Kingston for refusing to grant the railroad
“incentives” to make their town a stop on the line.
The name is said to be after the wife of a Santa Fe official.
A post office
opened in 1886, and the new town drew population and businesses
from Kingston. By the mid-1890s, the population was 600, and Celeste
had all essential businesses including a weekly newspaper. The town
incorporated in 1900 when it had a population of 671. By 1917 it
had grown to 850 residents and increased to 1,022 by 1922.
Due to the devestation of the cotton
crop by the boll
weevil in the 1920s and the Great Depression, Celeste’s population
was 803 in the early 1930s where it remained for years. The population
was 745 in the 1970s. From 733 in 1990, it has increased to 817
for the 2000 Census.
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