|
|
Downtown Ladonia
Photo courtesy Mike
Price, April 2008 |
History
in a Pecan Shell
The area was settled around 1840 by James MacFarland and Daniel Davis.
James H. Cole, is credited with platting the town around 1855. The
community had been known as McCownville but in 1857 the name
was changed – supposedly to honor La Donna Millsay, a Tennessean singer
who entertained the town.
The name La Donna was submitted to the postal authorities for
a post office – and when it opened in 1858 – no one was sure of who
was responsible of the slight change in spelling. In 1887 the Gulf,
Colorado and Santa Fe Railroad arrived and the town grew to a respectable
population of 350 (more or less). Ladonia became a shipping point
for cotton, corn, and grain crops. In the 1890s the population grew
to an estimated 1,500 people – and 2,000 by the end of that decade.
In the throes of the Great Depression the population fell to 1,199
and never recovered . By the 1970s it was down to just over 800 residents.
By 1990 it reported a population of 658. and for the 2000 census it
had risen to 667.
See Ladonia Historical Marker |
 |
Former Presbyterian
Church - now Heritage Hall
Photo courtesy Barclay
Gibson, April 2006 |
United
Methodist Church in downtown Ladonia
Photo courtesy Mike
Price, April 2008 |
Ladonia
City Hall
Photo courtesy Mike
Price, April 2008 |
Ladonia
Volunteer Department & fire truck
Photo courtesy Mike
Price, April 2008 |
Ladonia
Historical Marker
Photo courtesy Mike
Price, April 2008 |
|
Texas
Escapes,
in its purpose to preserve historic, endangered and vanishing Texas,
asks that anyone wishing to share their local history and vintage/historic
photos, please contact
us.
|
|
|
