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| Postcard
courtesy www.rootsweb.com/%7Etxpstcrd/ |
History
in a Pecan Shell
An earlier community named Palo Alto
had been established two and a half miles NE of what would become Killeen in the
early 1870s. The Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway was expanding in 1881 and
platted a seventy-block town, naming it after the assistant general manager of
the railroad - Frank P. Killeen. When the first train arrived - there was a crowd
of some 40 residents there to greet it. Populations from smaller communities were
drawn off and added to Killeen's population which was further bolstered by people
attracted by a national campaign run by the railroad.
By 1884 the town had 350 residents with a substantial number of essential businesses.
It became a shipping point for cotton, and
was wired for telephone service by 1896. The town was wired for lights in 1904-05
and bridges were constructed over Cowhouse Creek doubling the city's trade area.
A public water system was set in place by 1914. |
Camp
Hood
Postcard courtesy www.rootsweb.com/ %7Etxpstcrd/ |
Highway
190 was built through the town during the Great Depression and then Killeen changed
forever in 1942 when Camp Hood was built. Overnight it became a military
boomtown with thousands of workers as well as the military personnel stationed
there. Housing was so scarce that a tent city was set up to accommodate construction
workers. Camp Hood covered almost half of the city's trade area and whole communities
disappeared into the base. The government had bought over 300 farms and ranches
and the displaced cotton gins
and other businesses seriously hurt the traditional economy. New industries developed
to service the fort which remain in place to the present.
After WWII,
Killeen nearly became a ghost - but
it was revitalized when the base became permanent (and was renamed Fort Hood)
in 1950. |
First
Armored Division Tank in Fort Hood
Postcard courtesy www.rootsweb.com/ %7Etxpstcrd/ |
The city's
infrastructure was strained to the breaking point so in 1955 a master plan was
drawn up for a massive building program. Just when things seemed to be catching
up, cutbacks in the military caused another recession. In 1959, the First Armored
Division was stationed back at Fort Hood and the population increased - again
- surpassing by 2,000 the level of the mid 50s. The 1980 Census showed Killeen
to be the largest city in Bell
County.
Hotels
in Killeen Texas |
Downtown
Killeen
1950 postcard courtesy www.rootsweb.com/ %7Etxpstcrd/ |
Killeen's
Population Figures:1900:
780 1914: 1,300 1931: 1,260 1940: 1,263 1950: 7,000 1955: 21,000 1960: 23,000
1970: 35,000 1980: 49,000 1990: 63,500
Hotels
in Killeen Texas | |
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