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History in
a Pecan Shell
From a flowing spring three miles east of its present location,
the town would've been called Sugar Hill if early settler, Jesse
Morris hadn't had his way and named it Dexter after a then-famous
racehorse.
The town dates
from around 1870 with the post office opening three years later.
By the early 1880s the town had an estimated 300 residents – including
an equal number (4) of both blacksmiths and doctors.
Dexter’s prosperity was threatening the dominance of Gainesville
but when the Denison and Pacific Railroad bypassed the town in favor
of Woodbine, residents were disheartened. Some even took the drastic
step of moving to Ardmore, Indian Territory.
Residents that remained voted to incorporate, but having a city
government did little to stop people from leaving. Population figures
from the late 1960s through 1990 showed about 70 residents remaining.
The Dexter Community Church is still in place as well as the town’s
two cemeteries: one north
and one south.
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