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History in a Pecan
Shell
Once known as Slap-out, Texas or McLainsboro, Texas, the town
was established around 1860. It was renamed after former Governor Richard B. Hubbard
around 1881 when the St. Louis Southwestern Railroad of Texas built a depot. The
post office was granted, the first newspaper published and a bank (private) opened
all in the year 1881. The town was later added to the route of the Trinity and
Brazos Valley Railroad, making it a two-railroad town.
In 1895 while
drilling for drinking water, the city hit hoit mineral water - making the town
a (minor) resort town. From its earliest reported population of 250 (1884), it
had doubled by the early 1890s and was 2,700 by the mid-1920s.
The Great
Depression, WWII and the
decline of water resorts took its toll on Hubbard. The population was only 1,772
by the early 1950s - increasing to 1,872 by the late 1980s and then declining
to the current 1,586. Hubbard lost some downtown buildings to a 1973 tornado but
still retains some picturesque residental streets and is worth a visit. |
| | Volunteer
Fire Department and water tower
Photo courtesy Barclay
Gibson,
April 2006 | |
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